Alcohol, Cigarettes and Paperwork
by Valerie Sabrina Verzoe
Summary: AU. It was a wild night out, and all Nara Shikamaru remembers were flashback of an intimate encounter with a certain troublesome woman. A modern day love story. Humour is the third genre. P.S. The Sequel - 'Smoke, Flames and Broken Glasses' is out.
1. Last Night

He opened his eyes – his head was pounding; he had no idea what happened.

Sitting up, he realized that he was in his bedroom of his apartment. He looked at the alarm clock, which went off the second he turned. 0 _6:00_ , the clock flashed and he sat there like a deer in headlights.

"What a drag," he shrugged and scratched the back of his head.

He stood up and stretched himself. There was a faint scent of perfume, lingering in the air.

"Aw shit," he muttered, his brain was throbbing inside his skull. _Must have been the alcohol,_ he wondered how much he had drank last night.

He walked to the bathroom and stared into the mirror – he was a wreck: his dark hair drooped on the side of his face, his slender eyes tired and bloodshot _; what a glorious hangover_ , he thought to himself. He brushed his teeth in his usual sluggish manner, and splashed his face with cold water.

 _Surely he must remember something?_ He shrugged at the thought. That faint scent of perfume lingering on his mind.

Something tells him that he got laid last night.

But with who?

 _Get a grip, Nara Shikamaru._ He thought to himself. _You are the smartest person in the city and you have no idea who you fucked last night. Really?_

"Shikamaru!" He heard banging on his door. He treaded slowly as the banging became increasingly frequent. He opened the door.

The middle aged woman was huffing and yelled the moment he opened the door.

"NARA SHIKAMARU!" It was his mother, for a moment he thought his ear drums would tear. "I have been knocking for ages!"

"Hey mom," he replied, ignoring her complaint.

"Anyway, you lazy child, breakfast is almost ready." She then stared down at her son.  
"For goodness sake Shikamaru, put some clothes on."

He looked down and realized that he was in his boxers. He shrugged and nodded in response.

Closing the door, he couldn't get it off his mind.

He could faintly remember, what happened last night.

 _The music was pounding, the beat almost too loud to hear the melody._

 _Men and women were wiggling, crawling all over each other on the dance floor._

 _He had no idea why his friends dragged him here … oh yes it was Kiba's birthday._

 _He saw the birthday star dancing away with a girl on the dance floor._

 _The scent of cigarette smoke and cheap aromatics filled his nostrils, he took another sip from his Martini – his friends has commented on his choice of drinks – "Martini – how old fashioned!" Ino once said as she downed a shot of vodka._

 _He shrugged it off as usual, the dry taste enticed him – it is nothing too irritating, nor is it too dull._

" _Martini…huh?" He heard an unfamiliar voice, and he turned around._

And it stopped here. He rubbed his temples - his mind was playing tricks with him. He shook his head and walked towards the bathroom. He took off his boxers and walked into the shower. Pouring shampoo onto his head, he rubbed the liquid thoroughly through his shoulder length dark hair.

As the water rushed all over him, he remembered something else.

 _They exchanged kisses feverishly, like hungry beasts trying to devour each other._

 _He picked her up, holding her like a princess as her arms wrapped around his neck._

 _They break away from their lip lock, he heard her laughing a little as they gasped for breath._

" _What a drag," he muttered, his breath was laced with alcohol. She playfully smacked his chest. "Shut the fuck up," she said, with a smirk on her face._

 _He replied with a smirk of his own as he lowered her onto the sofa; his hands run wild to explore her body: her voluptuous, scrumptious body, while his lips pressed on her neck, her shoulder blades and collar bone._

 _She dug her nails into his back as she moaned in pleasure._

Shikamaru shook his head, and ran his hand through his hair. He still could not remember her face – what does she look like?

He finished his shower and wrapped his lower half in a towel. As he exit the bathroom he turned and stared into the mirror – on his back were claw marks – as if a cat had scratched him, red lines covering his back.

He must have had some wild fun last night - he gave himself a little chuckle.

He went back into his room and began putting on his shirt and trousers.

He brushed his hair, tying it into a ponytail; he fixed his cufflinks and adjusted his tie.

* * *

"Boiled eggs," he commented. "What a drag."

"Just eat up, you ungrateful child." Yoshino huffed, his father sat still and gobbled up what was on his plate. Shikamaru ate his bowl of rice quietly – he knew one more word his mother would have slammed his head with a cooking pan.

"So, how was work?" Shikaku was reading the newspaper when he popped the question to his son.

"It was okay, I guess." He replied in a lazy tone. "I still don't understand why you would send me to work there though."

"You need to learn how to work in a business in order to run one, son." His father shrugged as he flipped over another page of his newspaper. "You don't expect me to handover my business to you when you are as fresh as a green spring leaf, do you?"

"Nope." Shikamaru rolled his eyes a little. "Going to work is too troublesome for my taste."

Shikaku smiled, and flipped over another page of the newspaper.

The father and son walked towards the door. Shikaku gave his wife a light peck on the cheek. "I will be back at around seven," he said.

"Call me if you are not heading home for dinner, Shikamaru." She ordered her son; Shikamaru nodded and yawned as he and his father walked towards the elevator.

"Honestly, old man, if I don't need to have breakfast with you and mom everyday in the morning, I would have stayed in bed until now…" He ended his comment with another long yawn.

"Well son, I am sure you had some good fun last night." His father sighed with a smile on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"That girl screamed through the walls, I am surprised how your mother didn't even flinch in her sleep."

Colours flushed from his face. _Of course he would hear him banging,_ his parent lived next doors, so technically he was living with them.

"I am even more surprised that you managed to get up for work." Shikaku laughed a little, and patted his son on the back.

Shikamaru said nothing as a tiny shade of pink crept onto his face.

He left the elevator at the ground floor as his father continued down to the carpark.

He exited the building – it was a posh, old-fashioned building – around twenty stories high, the camel coloured walls of the building and grand wooden entrance signaled a sense of traditionalism.

His office was just a few blocks away; this walk he took every morning to clear up his mind, most of the time from his mother's yelling.

He was still figuring out what had happened last night.

 _He was thrusting, in and out of her. She threw her head back in pleasure._

" _Faster!" She screamed and moaned. His hands were occupied – squeezing and massaging her breasts._

 _His lips pressed onto hers and their tongues entwined with each other, he was sucking the air out of her, as she tried to gasp for breath and scream in pleasure at the same time._

 _He was enjoying this – normally he wasn't that proactive in bed, but this woman drives him crazy; he wanted to savour each and every inch of her._

 _He felt an overwhelming wave of ecstasy as he came, he saw her shrieking and shaking in pleasure: she came as well._

 _He triumphantly laid on her body, planting a kiss on her luscious lips._

But he still could not remember her face. He scratched his head again as he entered the office building of Konoha Corporation.

"Shikamaru!" Kiba patted him hard on the back.

"Ouch," he complained but returned a smile. "Morning."

"How was it?" Kiba asked anxiously. As if he knew what happened.

 _Wait. He knew what happened?_

"What happened last night?"

"Seriously, you don't remember! Last night was awesome – we were all having fun, and you! You sneaky bastard left with a hot blondie!"

 _So she was blonde._ Shikamaru thought to himself. "So I left early with a blonde girl."

"Yeah! I was so wasted, Neji had to drive me home haha!"

They entered the elevator, and Kiba was talking about how much he drank last night – he swore that he had some steamy action with a model.

Shikamaru smiled. _What a fleeting encounter – perhaps I will never know who she is._

Shikamaru settled down at his seat, just minutes before his suprerior, Sarutobi Asuma went over. "Morning, Shikamaru."

"Morning."

"We have a meeting this morning with the Suna Corporation, did you prepare the files?"

"… Shit." His reply was clearly evident.

"No worries, I expected that would happen given that you boys had a wild night out last night. The files are all ready, you just have to take them into the conference room." He winked at him, and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

Asuma saved his ass from Tsunade again. The boss lady would have his head if he messed up this one – the Suna Corporation was Konoha's greatest partner, especially as the business started to expand westward. They could not afford to mess this up.

It was time - Shikamaru picked up the files and followed Asuma into the conference room.

The representatives from Suna was there already, there were three of them – their leader was an older man, his wrinkles ran across his face like a map. Asuma greeted him with a firm handshake.

Shikamaru also shook hands with the man, he took his time to check out the other two, one of them was a man around his age, his hair was brown and he looked like something has crossed him early in the morning.

The other was a blonde woman, her hair was shining under the sun rays seeping in from the windows, she had a nice figure, popping out of her shirt almost in an unprofessional manner. She turned and looked at him in the eye.

At that moment, everything came back to him.

He remembered those green, mesmerizing eyes.

That tiny smirk on her face as they stared at each other.

He remembered now.

 _He fucked her last night._

* * *

 _Author's note:_

 _Hi! This is my new Shikatema story - based in a business world._

 _Enjoy! Read and review!_

 _V.S.V_


	2. See you again

He froze in his current stance, his eyes darting away from her.

"Shikamaru, I want you to meet Miss Sabuku." He turned around with a frozen smile. He reached out his hand.

"Nara Shikamaru." He said, gulping. He was careful not to let his gaze drop – and he looked at her cleavage for a second.

"Sabuku no Temari." She said, her voice was lower and huskier than he remembered, different from the voice she had when she was …

It was static was her hand took hold of his and gave it a firm shake.

Shikamaru returned the firm handshake.

 _Well, she does have a handshake of a man, that's for sure._ He felt his hand stung a little.

"Allow me to introduce Miss Sabuku. She is the Chief Officer of our corporation, being our late chairman's eldest daughter and our current chairman's sister. He has entrusted her to be in charge of the corporation project."

"Thank you Baki-san," said Temari, with a tiny smirk on her face.

 _How troublesome._ Shikamaru thought to himself. _No, goddamn it. Focus at the task at hand._

"Well, Shikamaru is one of our most able young associates here, our chairlady has assigned him to be the contact on our side."

"That's troublesome," he muttered under his breath.

"I see. Then I suppose we would be seeing each other quite often, right, Shikamaru?" He jerked his head facing her as she called his name.

"Ye-yea." He replied, shuddering. _What a drag…_

"It would be great if you could show me around the office, after the meeting." suggested Temari. "I hope it is not too _troublesome."_

He saw that smirk on her face, _so she does remember me._

"Yea sure." He shrugged, trying to pull his act together.

Temari was amused as she saw his eyes darting towards her during the meeting.

She was genuinely surprised to see him when he entered the conference room.

 _What a small world,_ she thought to herself.

Last night was a haze, but she remembered him.

 _He looked up from his glass of martini, and stared at her._

 _He was not your conventional heartthrob, but he was good-looking in another way – dark hair, narrow brown eyes on a laid back expression – almost feminine, but his aura says otherwise._

 _His body was lean yet toned; she could notice it beneath the white shirt he was wearing. He looked at her, half annoyed, half intrigued. Interesting, she thought._

" _Vodka, uh," he nudged his head up towards her glass. "How troublesome."_

 _She smirked and sat down next to him._

 _She noticed that he glanced at her cleavage – like all men do._

 _She was wearing a dark tight black dress, with a v-shaped opening, revealing her round, well endowed body._

 _She smirked as she ordered another cup of martini for him and another shot of vodka for herself._

"Temari-san," the older man with a beard and kind smile called her name, she turned around and looked at him. "What do you think about this proposal?"

"Oh… it seems fine to me," she flashed a professional smile; at her peripheral vision she saw him, eyes fixated at her.

She had a little chuckle.

"Very well, then," said Baki. "We will meet again at the general meeting next month then, Asuma-san. Meanwhile, Temari would handle the rest."

"My pleasure," replied Asuma, nodding at the other man. "Shikamaru, go ahead and show Temari-san around."

"Sure." He stood up, and stretched a little. Temari's eyes narrowed a little, beneath that suit was the body that drove her crazy last night.

"This way," he said, his voice was lazy, but she could still sense that bit of nervousness in him.

She nodded and followed him outside; she knew he caught her playful glance.

"Well, this is the human resources department," he walked her around the office, and then they headed to the elevator. "Here, I will show you down to the lobby."

She could feel his uneasiness; the way his muscle tensed up – _he was embarrassed,_ and she was having her little fun.

"So … did you enjoy last night?" She said, almost whispering into his ear. She made sure to blow into his air lightly and see him shiver. Visibly

He flinched and took a step away from her. "What a drag," he grumbled.

She smirked at him; the elevator doors opened and she literally pushed him into the elevator.

As the door closed, she leaned closer; he could feel her breath on his chin, he looked down and saw her cleavage, that deep gap of shame he wanted to dive in right now.

"Someone could have saw us, you troublesome woman." He hissed, she grinned at him triumphantly. He looked away, avoiding any eye contact with her.

"Oh?" She arched an eyebrow. "It wasn't so troublesome for you last night isn't it?"

There was a slight blush of pink creeping onto his face, _she enjoyed it, what a devil she is,_ he thought to himself.

"God, have some shame, woman," he murmured. She flashed a grin as he murmured how troublesome she was again.

Relief came as the elevator stopped at the ground floor lobby. He straightened his tie, and followed her out of the elevator.

"So, I guess I will see you later, Nara Shikamaru." She smirked before turning around and headed to a black car waiting outside.

"What a drag," he shrugged and scratched the back of his head. He couldn't help but notice the way her hips swayed as she headed outside.

 _Oh god, I need to get this off my mind,_ he thought as he headed to the elevators.

* * *

It was 5:30pm, Shiakamaru was heading home from his office.

He stretched his body as he exited the building, along with a long good yawn.

He was just walking back along the way he came and he noticed something on the newsstand.

It was a magazine with a familiar face on the cover.

Her face, to be exact.

She was posing on the magazine – she sported a red dress, her hair was let down, unlike that crazy, four-tailed do she had on today. She was smiling enticingly for the camera. The magazine was titled " _Sabuku no Temari – Suna Corporation's Princess – Brains and Beauty"._

He stared for a while, before fishing out a note, handing it to the lady at the newsstand. "Give me one of those magazines." He said with two careful glances to his side.

The lady handed him one and he tucked it in his arm before walking back to the street where his building was located.

If he is going to fight, at least he would have to study his enemy.

He went back to his apartment, almost immediately, he flipped open the magazine and tried to read more about that troublesome woman who have somehow plagued his life since yesterday night.

About yesterday night …

" _So what are you doing here? Got dumped?" She smirked, turning her head and facing him._

" _Tch, of course not," he replied, rolling his eyes back. "It's my friend's birthday, and they insisted to come to this place. I can't even hear myself think." He took another sip from his martini._

" _Hmmm." They said nothing for a few seconds._

" _You wanna dance?" She suddenly suggested, with a seductive smirk on her face._

" _Dancing is such a drag," he replied, scratching the back of his head sheepishly._

" _ **I dare you."**_ _She said, he swore he saw a fire lit up in her eyes. As if they were playing a game of tug of war._

 _And she won._

" _Fine, fine." He said. "You are such a troublesome woman."_

 _She grinned and pulled him up. The two walked to the dance floor._

 _It was awkward at first when the two started to stretch and move along with the beat, but suddenly they picked up the rhythm._

 _She leaned against his body, he could feel her body against his._

 _Her arms swung around and managed to touch his arms, his thighs …_

 _He got lost at the moment, as they danced away …_

Shikamaru found himself flipping through the pages just staring at photographs of her.

He slapped himself on the face lightly. "Goddamn it Shikamaru." He muttered. "It's just a goddamn drunken one night stand."

He put down the magazine and went out of the door. He heard his mother's voice shouting dinner was ready.

* * *

Temari let out a sigh of after kicking off her heels.

"About time you're back," said Kankuro. Her brother was sitting on the couch; He still looked grumpy like he did this morning in the conference.

"I had … matters to attend to." She smiled a little. "When is your flight back to Suna?"

"Tomorrow morning," he said. "Anything you need to me to bring to Gaara?"

"Nope," she said. "Tell him I said hi. And that the documents will be sent back to him in three days tops."

"Sure thing." Kankuro shrugged. "Are you going to cook us dinner or something?"

"Nope, I am too lazy, let's just order pizza." Temari smiled at her brother.

"Fine with me," Kankuro shrugged again, and jerked his hand back at the television.

The pizza arrived around thirty minutes later, his mouth opened as he took another piece from the cardboard box.

"By the way," he said. "Where were you last night? You didn't come back until 5 something this morning."

Temari tensed up for a second.

 _Her eyes were wide open - she sat up and looked around._

 _This was not her home. She was butt naked, and it was 4am in the morning._

 _She looked at her side – he was sleeping soundly, his chest heaving upwards and caving in slowly as he breathed – she smirked._

 _She tried to get off the bed, only to realize that his hand was clinging on her – holding her gently._

 _With a tiny smile, she brushed it off lightly and placed his hand back onto the bed. He grunted in his sleep, and turned his back towards her._

 _She chuckled silently, and proceeded to look around for her clothes._

 _Surprisingly, her dress and underwear were still in good shape. She quietly put her clothes back on._

 _She was just about to leave but something stopped her._

 _She did something she never did with other guys._

 _She walked and crouched down in front of him, softly brushing away the dark hair dangling around his face._

 _She took a good long look before pressing her lips gently onto his._

She laughed and did not respond.

"You went around and fucked some guy?" He had a smug grin on his face.

 _Yes, Kankuro, and you just met him this morning._

"Psh, fuck off Kankuro. Shut up and eat your pizza."

He grumbled and shoved the pizza slice in his mouth.

Temari chuckled as she took another bite.

Her cell phone beeped. She held it up and saw that it was a message from Baki.

 _Please begin drafting of documents as soon as possible. Pre-emptive apology for possible overnight work. Baki_

Temari rolled her eyes; then she smiled at herself.

 _That guy must be complaining how troublesome it is right now._

And at the same time, a certain man rolled his eyes backwards and complained how troublesome this whole matter is.

Only to be told off by his mother.

"No cell phones at the dining table!"

 _Work is just about to get more troublesome._

* * *

Author's note:

Here is another chapter! I am writing this apart from my other story - Chains; because things are about to turn dark and I need something light hearted to cheer myself up. I hope this makes you smile and laugh too! Read and review! xoxo

V.S.V


	3. Work Work Work

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head as he entered the office.

He noticed that the desk opposite to him was covered with stacks of binders and papers.

It was empty yesterday.

"Morning," he heard her voice and raised his head, she was grinning at him, teal eyes shining.

"Why are you here?"  
"Duh, to work of course." Temari stretched her arms. "Since we don't have a permanent office here, Madam Tsunade made them clear a seat for me here at your office."

"I see," he sighed, with a smile on his face. "What a drag."

"Just get back to work," she scowled. "I don't want to spend so much time on this."

"What, you have something else better to do?" He raised an eyebrow, she glared at him for a second. "I have a life apart from work."

"Hmmm." He turned his head back to his stack of papers, and sighed. "How troublesome."

The clock ticked and ticked, soon enough, people started to leave the office.

"Oi, Shikamaru!" His chubby friend, Chouji waved at him as he approached his desk. "We are going to get some barbeque and drinks after work, you wanna join us?"  
"Nah, I still have all these troublesome paperwork. Maybe next time."

"Well, see you next week then hehehe." He chuckled and left the office.

There was no one left in the office.

Nevertheless, they kept working and working – all the initial steps were mundane, repetitive and most importantly – annoying.

The clock was ticking – tick tock, tick tock …

He furrowed his brows and looked up, only to realize that Temari looked equally annoyed.

"How troublesome."

The phrase sounded particularly intriguing coming out of her mouth.

"Don't copy me, troublesome woman." He chuckled and stapled another sheet of paper.

"Shut up." She glared at him for another second.

Then suddenly, there was a sound broke the awkward silence in the office.

The sound of a dying whale originating from the blonde woman.

"You're hungry?" Shikamaru tried not to laugh and smirked.

"Of-of course, it's almost eight now." Temari stood up and stretched her arms. "Think I am going to call it a day," she sighed. "I will take these home and finish them over the weekend."

"What a drag," he also stood up. "Come on, let's go."

"What do you mean?" She looked confused, arching an eyebrow and staring at the man as if he had just said something that makes no sense.

"We will go get some food, then we will continue." He stretched and let out a good long yawn.

"I'd rather go home and finish this." Temari also stood up, her hand massaging her neck.

"Well," Shikamaru yawned again. "If you don't mind, we could move the documents to my place – it's just a few blocks away. You could come and we can work together."

"Hmmm." Temari nodded. "Fine with me, as long as we get the job done."

"What, no snide come backs this time?" He smirked, collecting the loose papers around the two tables and stacking them. "Let's go then."

* * *

Temari went into the strangely familiar apartment of his. She held two boxes of takeout ramen in one of her hand, and her handbag in the other.

"Welcome." Shikamaru stretched his back as he dropped the stack of documents on the table.

"You mean welcome again." She smirked and headed inside, putting the food on the table. He scratched the back of his head with a smile hanging on his face.

"Troublesome," he murmured as he sat down at the table.

He stared at her, playing with his ramen noodles as she hungrily wolfed down the whole bowl.

"What are you starin' at." She glared at him, before standing up and cleaning up.

"Nah nothing." He continued eating his own bowl.

Before he realized, they began working on the documents once again.

The clock ticked, it was way past midnight.

She yawned, covering her mouth with a hand.

He looked up, and saw her eyelids batting.

"You tired?"

Temari shook her head, barely opening her eyes.

He chuckled, stood up and went into his room.

After a minute, he returned with a towel in his hand.

"Here." He handed it over to her.

"What's this for." She said with another yawn.

"Go ahead and take a shower, I will find some large t-shirt and shorts for you to wear."

She looked away, her eyelids fluttering.

"Thanks." She uttered almost soundlessly before dodging into the bathroom with the towel in her hand.

He smiled and scratched the back of his head, before sitting down in front of the stack of paper in front of him.

She entered the bathroom, it was clean for someone as lazy as the guy outside, she thought to herself as she took off her clothes and entered the shower.

Turning on the tap, the hot water ran all over her body.

She frowned to realize that she could only use his shampoo and body wash.

Fifteen minutes later, she wrapped herself in a towel and walked out, her blonde hair still dripping with water.

"The clothes are in my room," he said without lifting his head from the paperwork.

She smirked and went into his room.

Quickly, she pulled the large grey t-shirt over herself and pulled the loose shorts up her legs.

"Let's get back to it." She approached the table and yawned again.

"Well, I think we can continue tomorrow." Shikamaru shrugged. "It's not like I have anywhere else to go," he said standing up and walked towards the bathroom.

Temari suddenly felt the tiredness hitting her head, she could barely open her eyes. She walked towards the bathroom door and knocked.

"What is it?" His lazy voice replied.

"Do you have extra pillows and blankets? I need them to sleep on the couch."

She could hear him laugh amongst the sound of running water.

"Take the bed, I will sleep on the couch. Troublesome as it is, it will be impolite to ask a guest to sleep on the couch."

She could not help but smile. "Thanks." She whispered before heading to his familiar room, and collapsing onto the bed.

Before she knew it, she closed her eyes and was fast asleep.

* * *

He wrapped his lower half in a towel and walked into the room, only to discover that she was sleeping. She laid sideways on his bed, his t-shirt covering most of her body.

He smiled at her, and approached the bed.

Gently, he pulled the blanket beneath her away and used it to cover her body.

"Troublesome," he muttered. He found himself staring at her sleeping face.

He touched her hair – it was still a bit damp.

"Oi," he held her shoulder and shook her gently. "Sit up."

She shook her head sleepily.

Shikamaru was not sure what to feel about this woman sleeping on his bed.

He eventually made her sit up, she was still sleeping.

He opened his drawer and plugged in the hairdryer – something that he had not used in quite some time.

He ran his hand through her sandy blonde hair as the warm wind emitted from the machine dried her hair. He worked through her hair, inch by inch, bit by bit.

Only when he finished he realized that his own hair has almost dried itself – he then blew his own hair dry.

Temari grumbled as she laid back onto the pillow and slept.

Shikamaru grinned at her, and covered her with the blanket again.

She rested her arm on his lap, he gently placed it back to her side.

Standing up, he reached over to the overhead cupboard and fished out a set of pillow and blanket.

He headed to the living room.

As he lied on the sofa, he stared at the clock next to the television.

 _03:20_

He closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

 _They have a long day tomorrow._

 _What a drag._

* * *

Author's note:

It might be a bit confusing now, but it will clear up later!

Enjoy!

V.S.V


	4. Ghost of Girlfriend Past

The leering sun rays forced him to open his eyes - his vision was still unclear, foggy. He sat up and yawned, rubbing his neck.

 _What a drag it was to sleep on the couch,_ he thought to himself as he attempted to rub away the soreness.

A whiff of food flew past his nose – He stumbled and crawled his way to the kitchen.

Someone was standing at the pristinely clean stove in his apartment; that has not been used more than three times since he moved in here.

In a haze, he approached the figure, wrapping his arms around the waist of whoever this person was.

"Ino." He murmured, as he buried his nose into the blondness in front of his eyes.

"Nope, wrong guess." That sassy, low voice popped a bubble in his sight - at that moment he realized that he was burying his head onto the well-toned shoulder of _that_ woman. Much wider, much firmer shoulder.

He flinched and released her from his embrace.

"Better deal with your morning wood first," she smirked at him, eyeing his lower body and returning her gaze at his face. "Breakfast would be ready in a few minutes."

"Troublesome," he muttered, glancing at his down under, his manhood proudly erect. He rolled his eyes back and went into the bathroom.

* * *

Shikamaru walked out of the bathroom, and saw two sets of breakfast on the table, complete with matching utensils – it is a miracle that she managed to make all these with the limited supplies in his refrigerator.  
Temari sat on the table, sipping from a mug that has a delicate flower on it.

He frowned at the sight – he immediately recognized it.

It was Ino's favourite mug - Something that she forgot to take away when she left…

Temari realized that he was staring – not at her, but at the mug.

"Are you going to sit down and eat, or is this mug so attractive you'd skip breakfast just to look at it?" She snapped, pulling him out of his little space of reminiscence.

He took a seat across, and began to cut his way through the sausages and sunny-side up eggs.

He put a morsel in his mouth – _phenomenal._

"You sure can cook," he could not help himself but get another bite.

Temari sniggered at him. "I bet Ino can't cook, can she?" She ended her tease with a laugh, only to realize that the man sitting across the table was not shuddering like he normally does.

His face darkened for a second. He said nothing and took another bite, his lazy expression returning to his face, his lips shut tight.

Seeing that he was not willing to talk about it, she decided to eat her breakfast silently.

Shikamaru remained quiet, as he took the dishes from the table and entered the kitchen. Temari took the mug and followed him.

He said nothing as he turned on the tap and started to scrub the dishes with a sponge.

Temari poured hot water into the mug. "Thanks for blowing my hair dry last night."

She said absentmindedly, causing him to stop moving for a second.

"I thought you were asleep." He said; she realised at that time that his tone was usually in a monotone, flat and uninterested.

She smirked, taking a tiny sip from the mug.

Something just got over him last night.

 _He saw her sleeping, her platinum blonde hair spraying across the pillows, a damp print crept onto the bed sheets and pillow cover._

 _"What a drag," he smiled and helped her up._

 _Gently, he blew her hair dry as she smiled sweetly, her eyes barely opened._

 _He planted a kiss on her forehead, and laid her head back onto the pillow with a towel beneath her head._

Shikamaru sighed, washing the soap bubbles off the utensils.

He put the clean dishes on the empty rack and walked into the living room.

She started burying herself in the paperwork, as if nothing had happened.

He joined her, as the numbers and words began to fly in front of his eyes, the certain memories of a girl with blue eyes seemed to be buried deep within the stacks of papers.

The only perplexed thought on his brilliantly intelligent mind was how on earth did he took this woman from hell to be Ino.

She took occasional glances at the man across the table, scratching his head in annoyance.

She knew he was avoiding talking to her; he knew that she was going to ask about this Ino.

That girl in the photographs of his study – platinum blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, smile dripping with honey, willowy figure with arms tangling with a lean boy with a lazy smile and another chubby one with tiny smiling eyes.

She was pretty in her platinum Barbie way; different from her own toned, sassy self, but Temari learnt long ago that beauty came in all shapes and sizes – although she was still jealously doubting how is it possible for such a tiny frame to exist.

 _How is it possible to hold all those organs in …?_

"Oi, you finished?" His voice rang, and she found herself staring at the man, his expression half annoyed, half bored.

"Ye-yeah." She stammered a little, not fully recovered from the sudden interruption of her chain of thoughts. "Here, take a look."

He took the paper from her hand, and glanced at it.

"This should do," he gave an affirming nod. She took it back from him and placed the papers into the binder.

"If that's the case, I will go home now," she said, gathering pieces of papers from the table.

"In that?" He stared at her – she was still dressed in his t-shirt and shorts.

Only realizing it by that time, she looked away, her face blushing. "It is not exactly like you can wear the clothes from yesterday, they are all crumpled and sweaty."

"Erm… I will call a taxi then." She shoved the computer into her bag.

He shrugged. "I will drive you home."

"You have a car?"

"I just don't drive to work, it is close and it would be too troublesome to find a parking space." He took the box of documents from her. "I will get changed, you grab your stuff and we can go."

* * *

She looked hilarious, yet she still managed to pull it off and looked stunning in her messy state.

Over the t-shirt and shorts, she wore her suit jacket; at the same time, she was wearing her high-heeled shoes and her hair was messy as it flowed naturally at the side of her face. She placed her dirty clothes in a paper bag, and slung her handbag over her shoulder.

If it was not the streets of Konoha, she could have pulled this look off on a high end brand's highway show.

He wished he could take a photo of her and blackmail her like how she played him with their little encounter, but he knew she would kill them both before she lets him do that.

"Keep you eyes on the road," she ordered him, he could feel her gaze boring into his skull; his gaze returned to the road, jam packed with cars.

 _Damned holiday drivers,_ he thought to himself. _Damn it all._

After inching their way through traffic, taking a few wrong turns, he found himself at the entrance of a stylish modern apartment building, complete with a lobby with marble floors and post-modern artwork that even Shikamaru has trouble understanding what it was.

Temari waved gracefully at the security guard at the counter, although the man did seem to look surprised to see her in her awkward state. He quickly looked away as Temari's elegant smile turned into a deadly glare.

She let out a sigh of relief as they entered the elevator, leaning against the wall of the elevator.

He could not help himself but chuckled. She reacted with another glare from hell - he felt like the side of his face was burning.

They said nothing as the lift stopped on the twenty-third floor.

She stepped out and turned left, he promptly followed.

She placed her thumb onto the scanner and punch in the password with her finger with ease.

The door beeped, she pushed her way into her apartment.

He followed her into her space - surprisingly it was decorated with pots of plants, which made her apartment serene and elegant looking.

She collapsed onto the cream coloured sofa after kicking off her heels, sighing in relief.

"Go ahead and take a seat." Temari pointed at the armchair adjacent to hers with her toes.

Shikamaru took off his shoes and slumped himself into the armchair.

"Your place is nice." He complimented. "Never took you as a plant person." Temari smiled. "I like looking at them – not much green at where I am from."

He was reminded that she lived in a desert country - where her company made money by pumping oil from deep within the earth.

She turned towards a small pot of cactus on the side table, atop of the green stubbed plant was a blooming red flower. "Apart from this, nothing can grow in the desert. It is always amazing how things can grow without you noticing."

Shikamaru stared as if she was a great philosopher, who knew a lot about the world and finally a woman he could have a decent conversation with-

"Well," she said. "Why don't you tell me more about yourself?"

She flashed him a grin, a provocating, seducing grin.

 _And she decided to turn back into the devil she is when he found some respect for her._

"Aw man," he groaned. "What a drag."

He realized that he was facing a window, with a clear view of the sky.

White, fluffy clouds floated in the blue canvas in front of him – _one, two …_

"Are you going to leave me hanging?" He realized that a zoomed-in image of Temari appeared in front of his face, mesmerising teal eyes and all. He leaned backwards.

"Well?" Her hands were on her hips, leaning forward.

"Troublesome," he muttered. "I better go home." He headed for the door, hands shoved in his pocket.

"No fun." She blurted. "No wonder Ino dumped you."

His footsteps halted and turned around. "What?"

"I said, you are no fun, that's why she dumped you." Temari said, crossing her arms in front of her chest, taking a step towards him. "Girls like fun, and you are everything but fun."

Shikamaru could feel a vein popping at the side of his head; he walked towards to her.

"Just because I fucked you doesn't mean you can talk like you know me." He snapped.

Temari's eyes widened and huffed. _She managed to stir up some fire in this lazy ass's heart._ She did not know whether she should be flattered or scared.

"You-" He cut her off with a ferocious attack on her lips, his hands scurrying and got hold of her hips.

Instinctively she placed her hands in front of her chest and attempted to push him away. He was violent, ruthless – unlike his normal lazy self; he pecked and purged his way through her lips, sliding by her teeth and greedily sucked onto her tongue, attempting to suck the life, that sassiness out of her lungs.

She was agitated, gasping for breath. Her hands kept pushing onto his chest, as hard as they could; but he held her close, close enough –

 **Smack** ** _._**

He parted his lips from hers abruptly, his hand proceeded to hold onto his right cheek.

Temari panted, glaring at him. She was still red from the sudden assault – huffing, panting, gasping for breath. She was bending forward, her hand in front of her knee following through her action.

"You men are all dogs," she said, her teal eyes burning with anger. "Fuck you."

And she slammed the door in his face, throwing his shoes at him.

The ring of the elevator woke the man, who slammed his hand onto his face in exasperation.

"What the fuck have I done…" He growled at himself. "What a drag."

Monday is going to be a very, very long day.

* * *

Author's note:

Haha another chapter! I wonder if it made you more confused or clear things up haha

Anyway, enjoy! Do review and tell me how you feel about this.

V.S.V xoxo


	5. Skeletons in the Closet

He woke up again, his head stinging with pain.

Running his hand through the dark hair that sprouted from his scalp, he pressed onto the skin, hoping that it would relieve the pain.

He looked around, rubbing one eye with his hand.

0900\. Too goddamn early for a Sunday morning.

This was his room alright; but something was off.

He looked next to him, a barely clothed woman laid next to him, her hair, darkish pink, almost red in colour laid next to him.

He rubbed his face. _Oh shit, I did it again._

What happened yesterday – _Oh yes, he went to the club with his friends …_

 _He was lying on his bed, thinking about what he should do on Monday to avoid getting his ass kicked by Temari, or even worse, the boss who would probably be very angry that he and the Suna representative were in such a hostile relationship._

 _He almost felt like banging his head onto the steering wheel._

 _He slammed the door close in the car park, and lit a cigarette._

 _As the minty smoke invaded his trachea and lungs, he let out a smoky, annoyed sigh._

 _Just at that moment, his friend, Uzumaki Naruto called._

 _"Oi, Shikamaru! Let's go to the new club – what's it called, The Sound!"_

 _"Man I worked my ass off last night." He complained – how on earth does Naruto get to be so happy all the time when the boss lady kicks his ass everyday?_

 _"That's why you need to relax! See you there at nine!"_

And that was how he ended in the club.

But this time it was different – last time he remembered the details – how he met her, how he …

The redhead turned her body over, slowly opening her eyes, blinking.

"Hey." He looked at her, his face puzzled. "What's your name?"

"Tayuya," she replied bluntly. "And you are a piece of trash."

"What?"

"You are a piece of trash!" She sneered. "You have a gummy snake for your dick." She eyed him down under, with another sneer. "Too bad, when I felt you, it seemed pretty attractive."

Shikamaru stretched his back. "So I brought you back here last night?"

"You were drunk as fuck at the club, and you told me to bring you back here." She stretched her arms, then folding them in front of her bra-clad chest. "You don't fucking remember anything do you?"  
"Do you curse that much all the time?"

"Just shut the fuck up." She spat. "Anyway, you brought me back, we kissed for a while … and then you stopped."

"I … stopped?" Shikamaru shrugged. It was not like he was particularly motivated to do anything, anyway.

"Yeah, you murmured something …" Tayuya scratched the back of her head. "You said you were sorry …"

"Huh?" Her words made him even more puzzled than he already was.

"Yeah, you said I shouldn't just kiss you like that … hell you even called me some other girl's name."

"What did I call you?"

"You called me Temari." The redhead jerked her head towards the man. "Is she your girlfriend?"

"She is my worst nightmare." He replied with a sigh.

Tayuya sneered at the man. "Well, even though your dick is a decent size, it isn't a good one if I can't enjoy it. So I might as well as get going." She leapt off his bed, dressed only in her black bra and panties, on her neck was a tiny tattoo.

"Huh, as you wish." He sat there and lit a cigarette with his lighter, putting it into his mouth and blew out a cloud of smoke as Tayuya pulled a black rock band, sleeveless t-shirt over herself.

"Anyway, nice meeting you." He said mindlessly, blowing out another cloud of smoke.

Tayuya smirked and laughed. "Yeah, maybe I will see you next time when you are hard."

"Tch." He sucked his teeth, putting the cigarette between his lip. "What a drag."

Tayuya was about to come back with another curse-filled sentence when there was a sound.

Knock. Knock.

Someone was knocking on the door.

"It's probably my mother." He stood up, dressed only in his boxers; he approached the entrance, followed by Tayuya, who was holding a leather jacket.

He opened the door, only to discover that his nightmare had managed to find him somehow.

"He-hey." He was surprised to see this blonde hair teal-eyed woman at his front door. She was wearing a purple top with a plunging neckline, complete with skinny dark pants and a pair of ballerina flats. Her hair was in that crazy four-ponytailed style, her eyes glanced at him and Tayuya impatiently.

"Oh so this is your girlfriend." Tayuya glanced at the two. "Bye trash, see ya later."

The dark pinked haired woman skipped out of the door, not forgetting to wink at Shikamaru before leaving.

Temari glared at him, not saying a word.

He stared back, not daring to say anything before she does.

The stare-down lasted for a minute.

He took a gulp, when suddenly she raised her hand – in her clutch was a paper bag.

"Your t-shirt and shorts." She muttered, shoving the bag into his open palm.

"Oh…thanks." He replied, dropping the bag at the side of his door.

She looked at him. "Hmph." Then she turned around and began to walk towards the lifts.

He decided to do something.

"Wait Temari."  
She sped up.

"Temari."

Her steps became even quicker.

"TEMARI!" He did not realize until she stopped that he was grabbing onto her wrist. She turned around and shot him a lethal glare.

"What do you want?" She gritted her teeth. "I just want to get over this and give this back to you, I don't owe you anything."

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head, taking another step forward.

"But I do."

Temari's face softened up a little, but she was still obviously upset. She shook and broke free of his grasp, arms folding in front of her chest.

"I am sorry I did that to you yesterday." He said. "I shouldn't say all that, and I shouldn't kiss you like that… I just lost control."

Temari said nothing, but slowly a sigh decided to creep out of her throat.

"Some remorse you have, you were having a great time, I could see." Temari sniggered.

He rolled his eyes back. "I mean it, I am sorry."

"Sure, and you had a great time thinking that you were sorry because you assaulted me." Temari looked at him with an exasperated sigh. "Try having sex in front of me next time and tell me how remorseful you are, dickhead."

"I didn't have sex with her."

"You are a pathetic liar, we hooked up! Just like you and her. Don't think that you can lie in my face about that." Temari rolled her eyes again as she went along. "God knows how many women you have hooked up with, I might have gotten some STDs with you."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"For the last time, I didn't fuck her." He said slowly, clearly. "I need to tell you that I lost control because of…."

Temari raised an eyebrow, she was still frowning; her lips were still thin like a line.

"Because of…?"

"Because of … Ino. I lost control because you mentioned Ino."

"Shikamaru …"

"Yea?"

"Three things."  
"Yes 'mam."

"One – I am hungry, and you are treating me brunch."

"Alright, and the other?" He was not worried about feeding her.

Temari smirked. "Second, you are going to give me damn good explanation for whatever happened yesterday and whatever situation we are in right now."

Shikamaru nodded, rolling his eyes to the side. "What a drag … but if you would forgive me that way, sure." _He did own her an explanation after all that …_

"Last thing."

He stared at her, awaiting the final sentence.

He would not be surprised if she asked him to cut off his own dick.

"Do you realize you are only in your boxers? We are at a public place."

Temari flashed a shit-eating grin, as he looked down and saw his bare chest and abdomen, complete with a pair of dark green boxers and bare feet.

"Shit." He muttered under his breath, running his hands through his messy hair.

"Go ahead and sit in my apartment, I will get change then we can go get brunch." He said as he turned around and walked towards his apartment, his head sunken in annoyance, followed by the blonde woman whose head was held high.

 _He called her name, instead of Ino …_

 _Perhaps he feared for his hide from that troublesome woman._

 _Troublesome …_

* * *

They went into a bar restaurant, it was quiet, and they were the only customers.

"Hi table for two?" They were welcomed by a girl whose long black hair almost touches the ground, affixed by a violet ribbon. She gave them a brief smile and led them to a table.

Temari noticed that she looked at Shikamaru in a funny way – like she was trying to remember where she has met him before. Her dark eyes was glinting …

She shrugged the thought of her mind, and turned back at the man in front of her.

He was drinking his glass of water sip by sip. He was thinking how to start their conversation.

She smirked and looked down at the menu.

All he knew was that it was going to be a very long conversation.

Before he could say anything, the waitress approached the table.

"May I take your orders?" She stared at Shikamaru – until it made him feel slightly uncomfortable.

"I will get a burger."

"Same." He replied, handing the menus back to her.

She smiled, and just about Shikamaru thought she was going away, she stayed.

"By the way, have we ever met before?"

Shikamaru shook his head; he seriously could not recall this face.

Temari watched the two of them - she was intrigued. A smirk crept up on her face, her glances made Shikamaru even more nervous than he already was.

"Ah I remember! That party …" The girl suddenly said, her eyes widened. "I remember now, you are that lazy guy."

Shikamaru looked away. "Troublesome…" he muttered.

Temari could not help herself but laughed.

They ordered their food, and as the girl left, Temari looked at Shikamaru, smirking all the time.

"So…what's her name? This girl and the other girl at your apartment earlier."

"What a drag," he rolled his eyes. "I don't remember."

"Really?" She arched an eyebrow.

"The one you saw earlier, the pink-haired one was Tayuya." Shikamaru shook his glass, the ice cubes swirling inside the colourless liquid. "This one … ah I remember, her name is Kin."

"Kin and Tayuya, and Ino … never took you for a ladies' man." She said, taking a sip from her glass.

"I mostly try to avoid women," he replied. "Women are troublesome."

"Oh how poor, women just can't wait to get into your pants." She sniggered.

He sucked his teeth and took another sip from his glass.

"I didn't have sex with Kin either," he rolled his eyes. "We made out in a party, I think."

"You were drunk back then?" She spat out her tongue. "Was that before Ino or after Ino?"

"Tch… after Ino." Shikamaru took another sip.

"Ah," Temari sighed, smiling at him. "She broke your heart."

Shikamaru looked away at the street, the cars were bustling.

"…Yea."

The food arrived, complete with a wink from Kin and a plate of complimentary fries; both of them began to bite into their burgers.

Temari smiled at herself, after taking another bite.

Shikamaru reached over with a napkin and pressed on her face.

The warmth of his hand, despite of the presence of the napkin, startled Temari.

"Ketchup," he said, as he moved back to his seat, as if he did nothing.

Temari held onto her burger, slightly stunned.

A flush of colour appeared on her face, she stared down at the burger – the half eaten burger was particularly attractive…

"So …" She tried to break the awkward tension in the air. "Tell me about you and Ino."

Shikamaru frowned. "Hmph."

He took a deep breath, and stared at the opposite of the street.

"We are childhood friends. We dated on and off … well." He paused, taking a sip from his glass. "She would date some other guys and when she broke up with them, she would eh… come back to me."

Temari looked at him. He was sulking visibly. "And, she dumped you for another guy."

He sighed. "She said this time she was serious about this guy, this weird, pale-faced guy. Hell, she wasn't even close with him."

"And she said she is not coming back to you?"

"…Yea, this time she said we should be friends." He sighed and put his glass down. "I think I need a drink."

Temari waved at the bartender, who was daydreaming at that time.  
"Two martinis." She ordered. Turning back to Shikamaru, he stared at her.

"Well, I am sure that if things don't work out for her and that guy, she would come back for you." Temari said, her emerald eyes staring at him. "The thing is, whether you will be there for her at that time."

Shikamaru shrugged. "I don't know."

"But you still love her."

"Well, I suppose I will always feel something for her." Shikamaru sighed, scratching the back of his head as the drinks arrived. "I am tired of her treating me like this."

Temari looked at him, arching an eyebrow. "That is why you go out and pick up girls."

"Most of the time I don't really intend to, it is more often circumstantial." He took a sip from his martini.

"So … that night, when we…" Temari stammered a little. "You were thinking about her?"

"… No," he replied. "You are different."

Temari replied with a tiny smile. "Men are so strange."

She was just about to continue when suddenly someone yelled.

"Temari! Babe, it has been a long, long time."

Temari hissed at the voice, jerking her head around. _Oh she could recognise that voice anytime, anywhere ..._

Behind her stood a man, wearing skinny jeans and wearing an unbuttoned black shirt, revealing his well-trained, eight-pack body. His silver coloured hair was slicked back with hair gel; violet eyes staring hungrily at her. He flashed her a flirtatious grin, only to receive her death glare as a reply. "I thought I wouldn't be able to see you ever again."

Shikamaru could see that she was annoyed, angry and even a little sad.

"Hidan." She hissed his name as if it was the name of a disgusting thing.

"Who's this?" Shikamaru eyed the man, turning his gaze back at the flushing, agitated woman in front of him.

"Well..." Temari took a large gulp from her glass, rolling her eyes.

"Meet my ex-boyfriend."

* * *

Author's note:

Another chapter! Even more interesting, or confusing hahaha

Enjoy!

V.S.V xoxo


	6. Speaking Up

Hidan sniggered, and pulled the chair next to hers.

He slid into the seat like a slithering snake, casually slinging his arm around her shoulder, his hand dangling in front of her chest.

Temari clutched his wrist and threw it off her shoulder; she stood up and signaled Kin for the bill with a wave of her hand.

"Aww, you are leaving so soon?" Hidan grinned at her. "Don't you miss me?"

She said nothing as Kin approached her with the bill. As she fished around her handbag for her purse, Shikamaru stood up and placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

He took out a credit card and handed it to the waitress, he smiled at the blonde woman, her cheeks slightly puffed.

"Ohh so this is you new boy toy eh? Not much of a looker I reckon." Hidan snapped, he also stood up – he was slightly taller than Shikamaru; he approached him, leaning over and stared into his dark brown eyes.

"What a drag," Shikamaru muttered, as he got the credit card back from Kin, shoving the plastic card into his pocket.

"Aww baby," Hidan cooed over Temari, slinging his arm across her shoulder, another hand lifting her chin.

Temari smiled and elbowed him hard in the ribs, stepping back and stood next to Shikamaru, facing the silver haired man. "Get the fuck away from me."

Hidan's eyebrows twitched; he gritted his teeth and reached out. "Don't you dare walk away from me, bitch."

His hand almost reached Temari's shoulder, when suddenly another hand blocked and pushed it away.

"Didn't you heard the lady?" Shikamaru sucked his teeth and stared at him, bored but irritated. "Get away from her."

"You don't want this problem, pal." Hidan gritted his teeth and glared at him.

Shikamaru sneered. "No, you don't want this problem."

Temari thought for a second that Shikamaru grew taller and bigger at that instant, she found herself behind his back – a weirdly comfortable place to be.

"Listen up, you dweeb," Hidan hollered agitatedly, raising his arm in the air.

"No, you listen up." Shikamaru took another step, completely shielding Temari from the taller man. "I usually run away from trouble, but no man would stand to see a dickhead bully a woman." In a swift push he shoved the taller man away, who stumbled but regained his balance quickly.

"You –"

"Hidan! Cut the crap," another voice, deeper, calmer rang from the car outside.

"Shut up Kakuzu!" He jerked his head towards the dark limousine.

"We have an appointment, now move." Kakuzu's voice emerged from the opened door. "If you are late, we loss profit."

"Tch," Hidan sucked his teeth. "You better watch it dweeb." He shot Shikamaru another glare.

"And you, Temari, I will be seeing you around." He threw a sinister grin before spinning on his heel and walking out of the bar.

They remained standing, until the car left with a cloud of dark exhaust fume drifting in the air.

"Let's go." Shikamaru shrugged, returning to his normal self.

Temari nodded and followed him out of the restaurant obediently.

* * *

Somehow, she followed him home.

He said nothing when she entered the door, sat down on the sofa and hugged her knees in front of her chest.

The moment she buried her head into her knees, he said nothing.

She did not utter a sound as he laid down a cup of hot tea on the coffee table in front of her.

Her face emerged, emotionless, slowly as he took a seat next to her, a few inches away.

She stared blankly into the television screen in front of her, zoning out at the grey surface, her reflection barely visible.

He said nothing and began flipping through a newspaper.

From the sound, he knew she leaned forward, taking the cup in her hand and sipped.

From the sound, she knew he was not reading properly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He said, his voice in the same bored monotone.

"You will feel better, just like you said."

"Hmph." She replied. There was no tears, no angry outburst.

"He broke your heart didn't he?"

"…Yes, mind and soul." She muttered softly, just loud enough for him to hear.

"What did he-"

"He made me feel worthless." She snapped, staring at the ceiling as she spoke. "He treated me like a jewel at first, tossing aside once I am in his grasp; when I thought I would leave, he would beg me to stay – it just goes on and on."

Shikamaru said nothing, hoping that the silence was comforting enough for her to continue.

"Well… then the one time I finally made up my mind to leave him, he made sure he scarred me well enough." She sneered coldly.

Shikamaru said nothing.

"He said I am…" She took a deep breath. "He said he likes me, but he loves my money."

The silence continued as her voice subsided.

"I was so stupid…" Temari began running her hand through her hair, tugging away the hair ties at the same time – her blonde sandy hair ran down the side of her face like a golden waterfall. "So fucking stupid…"

She turned around and stared at the dark brown eyes staring at her.

Something deep down told her that she was staring at something like a mirror.

But something else told her they are different.

She blinked once.

The next second, she found herself in his warm embrace.

She wrapped her arms around him as she felt a warm moist on her shoulder, on which he buried his face.

"And I thought I was going to cry…" She smiled. "Stupid crybaby."

He said nothing, his arms tightened around her waist.

No one said anything for the next few minutes.

* * *

"Men are strange," she muttered, as he exited the lift behind her.

"Women are troublesome." He replied, lazily.

He stared at her shoulders, less slump than what he saw in the afternoon.

He knew that she had not tell him everything, just like how he did not tell her.

But who is he? Just a random guy who just so happened to sit opposite her at work, had sex with her once and popping up around her.

What gives him the right to know all the dark secrets she held?

He stood there, deep in his thoughts as the woman approached her door and unlocked it with ease.

"Well." Temari stood there at the entrance of her apartment. "I guess I will see you tomorrow."

"Yea." He replied with a tiny, faint smile on his face.

"You know," she said, biting her tongue a little. "Thanks for today."

"No big deal." He shrugged and waved his hand.

The evening sun peered from the back, her sandy blonde hair was dyed in a hue of orange, basking in the sunlight.

He felt an irresistible urge to step forward, one step, two step.

She stood there, as one of his hand reached forward and cupped her face.

She blinked, looking at him in a puzzled gaze.

It was at that moment, his phone decided to ring, screaming into his ears.

He quickly retracted his hand from her face. "Shit, sorry." He said hastily as he scrambled for his phone in his pocket. She stared down at her feet, her hands nervously fidgeting the strayed strands of her hair, an embarrassedly expression lingered on her face, accompanied by a hue of pink.

He was not sure if it was the pinkish glow of the sun or is it the colour of her cheek.

"Hello." He turned around and walked away, not forgetting to wave his hand up.

Temari stared as he took step after step away from her door, something told her to run outside, catch up to him and pull him into her embrace.

But she closed the door.

He blinked twice as he heard the quiet thump of the door closing.

"Yes, mom." He continued, sighing quietly. "Yes I am coming back. Yea. Bye."

He hated it but he had to hurry back to his parent's apartment.

They are having a guest over for dinner.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hi all! Another chapter!

This one is a little short, I did it on purpose because it would be strang to continue the story and not stopping at this point (somehow - I hope this makes sense)

Anyway, enjoy! Do review!

V.S.V xoxo


	7. Past and Present

"I am home," he took off his shoes as the door shut behind him.

He could already smell the food at the entrance; he entered the living room.

The guest sat there, she smiled at him.

"Shikamaru-kun."

He nodded at her. _What was her name again…?_

"You are back, where have you been?" His mother took one last dish from the kitchen and laid it onto the table. His father was sitting in the living room with the girl.

"We are just talking about you," the older man suggested. "You know, Shiho here is starting at your company tomorrow."

 _Oh yes, her name was Shiho._

 _He remembered her now – she was in some of his class in university; she was their family friend's daughter …_

 _She had something, according to Ino, 'a gigantic crush' on him back when they were in university._

 _Ino was not even jealous of her back at that time._

"Shikamaru?"

"Oh-oh," he stammered a little. "Which department are you in?"

"Oh, I am in the Information system development department."

"Ah, so we are on the same floor." He said with a smile. "I am in business development."

The girl blushed and tucked her light, frizzy blonde hair behind her ear.

"So…" Shikaku was just about to continue, when Yoshino approached the table, her hands on her hips. "Time for dinner!"

The three of them stood up and approached the table.

They began to eat; Shiho complimented Yoshino on how good her cooking was.

"So, Shiho," the older woman began, as she put down an empty bowl. "How was your father's business?"

"It was fine, aunt Yoshino." She smiled and nodded. "But I figured I wanted to gain some experience outside of our computer company."

"If only you could be more like Shiho, Shikamaru." Yoshino shot him a glare; Shikamaru shrugged it off.

"Troublesome," he muttered.

"Anyway, Shiho." His mother decided to ignore him. "Since you are starting tomorrow, why don't you go together with Shikamaru? He could show you around."

Shikamaru looked at his father, who said nothing and took a sip from his tea.

"If-if Shikamaru-kun wouldn't mind, that would be great."

"You wouldn't mind, would you?" Yoshino turned at him, her eyes sent him the message that she would thrash him if he disobeyed.

"Tch, sure." Shikamaru muttered. "I will pick you up tomorrow."

Shiho blushed like an apple, and stared down at the empty bowl in front of her.

Shikamaru could not see her eyes behind those swirling glasses, but he was pretty sure that she was staring at him most of the time.

"Where are you living right now?"

"Right…right across the street." She replied meekly. "On the twentieth floor, apartment B."

"Got that." He replied and took a sip from his cup of tea.

He avoided whatever conversation by hiding in his father's study.

"What a drag," he lit a cigarette, and placed it between his lips.

He puffed out a cloud of smoke - the hot vapour scorched his throat.

It was obvious that the girl outside was attracted to him, as clueless as he was with women, it was as obvious as his mother being a woman.

He sighed as he took another deep breath from the glowing rod.

Perhaps what she saw was still that boy in college, that boy who treated the platinum blonde girl with blue eyes as his one and only true love.

Perhaps he was attractive that way.

The problem was Shikamaru was no longer a boy.

He was a man, a man who knew that no matter how much effort you put in, some things would never be yours.

Ino was one of them.

Perhaps Shiho does not know about his night life excursions, perhaps she does not know who he really was…

Perhaps he himself doesn't know himself – who he really is, what is it there for him.

The cigarette wilted, hot ash fell to the ground like a grey snowflake.

"Oi," his father popped his head in, frowning for a second as Shikamaru put the cigarette butt at the dish next to the window. "Your mother asked you to send Shiho home."

"She lives across the street," he complained.

"And your mother will knock your head off," Shikaku smiled at him. "Hurry up."

Shikamaru sighed and walked out of the study, he scratched the back of his head and walked into the entrance way.

Shiho was bowing repeatedly at Yoshino, she smiled timidly.

"Thank you aunt Yoshino," she smiled and said. "I would go now…"

"Hold on, Shikamaru!" Yoshino turned around, arching an eyebrow in surprise as she saw her son, already standing behind him, sucking his teeth.

"Here, I will walk you back." He smiled briefly, putting on his shoes.

Shiho said nothing but nodded, her face was as red as the tomatoes they ate during dinner.

Shikamaru sighed in relief as he shut the door behind their backs.

Shiho said nothing, she turned her head and stared at Shikamaru as they crossed the road. A constant shade of pink appeared on her face, as she smiled, stealing glances at Shikamaru.

 _He used to look at Ino the same way…_

They arrived at her door, she unlocked it with a key and stepped inside.

Shikamaru watched as she stepped inside.

She stopped and turned around, staring at him.

"Shikamaru-kun, do you want to come in?"

He smiled and shook his head.

"Nah, better go home, we have work tomorrow."

She stared down at her feet, visibly disappointed.

"I will see you tomorrow morning, Shikamaru-kun." He nodded and turned around.

As he walked towards the lift, he could hear her closing the door slowly.

He sighed and fished another cigarette out of his pocket.

Perhaps the smoke could make him forget, numb his nerves and put this memory of his off his mind.

But he found himself glancing at his phone, waiting for someone who would never call.

* * *

She could not sleep.

She laid atop of her large bed, draped in purple bed sheets and linen.

In her hand was an empty wine cup.

She could smell the sweet scent of wine lacing her breath.

 _"I am leaving you," she said, opening the door and staring up at him. The smug grin fell off his face, his violet eyes looked at her angrily._

 _"Are we going to do this again?" He snickered. "You know the drill."_

 _"No, Hidan," she said, firmly, hands folded in front of her chest. "I am leaving you."_

 _She pointed at the two paperboxes at the door. "Here's your shit, now beat it."_

 _"Why are you doing this, babe?" Hidan placed his hand on her shoulder, which she roughly pushed it off._

 _"You cheated on me … I have lost count of the numbers." She sneered at him. "And you still wouldn't quit doing that…"_

 _"I do it for the thrill, you know that." Hidan sighed, winking at her._

 _"You realize you are talking about drugs, do you?" Temari rolled her eyes. "Well, do whatever you want, it doesn't matter."_

 _"Why don't you just give me another chance?"_

 _"No, not to mention, you hit me…"_

 _"I thought you liked it."_

 _"Are you fucking insane?"_

 _"Hell, that's why you like me."_

 _"Fuck off, you filth."_

 _"Tch," Hidan leaned forward, staring deep into her emerald eyes. "So there is no turning back, huh?"_

 _"No." She glared at him, lips thinning in determination._

 _"Very well then," Hidan looked up and threw his head back in a cold laugh. "I like you, Temari – but your money, god I love it."_

 _Temari said nothing, her fists clenched tightly._

 _"And to think that I am filthy, what does that say about you?" Hidan leaned forward again, holding her chin roughly with his hand. "You are just as bad as I am."_

 _"Shut up," she pushed his hand away from her._

 _She shut the door, leaning at the door, she heard him picking up the boxes and walked away._

 _She sat on the floor, hands wrapping around her knees._

 _She had not cried like that for a long time, not when she first realized Hidan was cheating on her, not when she found out he was doing drugs of all kinds …_

She realized that something moist was rolling of her cheeks.

Temari wiped the tears off her face, and stared up at the ceiling above.

At least she realized – she was not ready for another relationship yet, not before she forgets about how Hidan hurt her, not before she learns how to love someone properly.

Because all Hidan has taught her was that – if you do not get attached, you would not get hurt.

At least that was what she thought before she met that lazy brown-haired guy.

For a very long time, she had not felt this happy around someone.

Maybe because she knew he understands the pain, he understands her feelings.

But she was not sure whether she wants to welcome him with open arms – after all, she met him in a club, a one-night stand.

Could she trust him?

She closed her eyes - perhaps she could find some solace in the dark.

* * *

Temari shot up from her bed, she turned around and looked at the clock.

08:00.

"Shit," she muttered. She leapt off her bed, and rubbed her temples.

Her headache was conking on her head, she sighed as she brushed her teeth.

It took her fifteen minutes to get dressed and got into the car.

She stared out of the window, the scenery shifted in her eyes, like a piece of moving picture, the buildings gleaming in the morning sun, the cars bustling like a train of ants, rushing forward.

She stepped off the car, holding bundles of documents in her hands; it was difficult, given the fact that she was wearing heels, but she would manage – because she is not like any other woman.

She nudged the door open, just in time to see a familiar person walking in front of her.

Shikamaru was walking in front, by his side was a girl with light blonde hair, her frame was willowy, the two stood inches next to each other.

She saw her turning her head at him, smiling with a blush on her face, as he talked to her.

She did not know what they were talking about, but she definitely knew that look on her face.

Temari wanted to run away.

She turned around and with a thump, the binders in her hand fell onto the ground, the papers flew everywhere.

"I am sorry," she muttered, as she apologized quickly to whoever she bumped into.

"It's okay, let me help you."

She looked up and saw this taller man, his dark hair covered his waist; he returned a confused gaze at the woman in front of him.

"Thank you …" She said, arching an eyebrow in equal confusion.

"No problem," he smiled at her, holding the documents for her, and helped her up.

"And you are …?" She asked as she walked beside him, her eyes still glancing at the space in front – Shikamaru and the girl had disappeared.

"Oh, apologies." He looked down with an apologetic smile on his face. "My name is Hyuga Neji.

* * *

Author's note:

Another chapter! I hope it is not too confusing.

So basically, Shikamaru's ex-girlfriend is not going to appear YET...

I hope you enjoy! I will update soon!

V.S.V xoxo


	8. Before you go, Before I fall

"Oh so you are Suna's representative here," the long-haired man said as she sighed in relief, putting the bundles on her desk.

"Yes," Temari smiled at him. "So basically I will be here irregularly."

"I see, if you want to go around the city, I can show you around." The man offered with a smile on his face, he turned around as he heard a sound behind his back.

"Good morning," Shikamaru placed his briefcase on the desk, he glanced at Temari quickly, before turning at Neji. "Haven't see you for a few days, Neji."

"Just got back from a business trip in Kiri." Neji said. "I was just helping Temari-san here with her bundles of documents."

Temari saw the blonde girl behind him, although she could not see her eyes, she was pretty sure that she was staring at her behind those swirling glasses.

"Yes, and Neji offered to show me around town sometime." Temari smiled at the him.

Something irritated the brown-eyed man.

 _What is this weird feeling?_

"Ahh," he replied absentmindedly.

"And you are?" Neji smiled at the girl behind Shikamaru.

"Ah, this is Shiho, she is new here." He introduced her, the girl nodded at Neji. "Computer department."

"Nice to meet you," she said meekly, pushing her glasses that rested on her nose.

"Hyuga Neji," he offered her a warm hand and she shook it hesitantly.

All three of them turned at the other blonde woman.

"Temari," she offered bluntly. No handshake, no smile. "Excuse me, I still have work to do."

The girl shuddered at the sudden coldness offered by her.

"Then I will go back to my department, Shikamaru-kun." She waved a little, and left them.

Neji smiled at Shikamaru and was just about to turn around.

"Neji?" He turned towards the woman who was sitting down. She looked up from the papers and smiled at him. "Could you show me somewhere nice for lunch?"

"Sure thing." He returned the same smile, turning his gaze at the dark-haired man whose pupils dilated in surprise. "I will come find you at twelve thirty then."

Temari grinned at him, and he left.

Shikamaru said nothing, rather, he could not think of what to say.

His mind was blank when Temari's phone vibrated.

She picked up the device and glanced at it.

Shikamaru waited for her to put down the phone.

She looked at him, her eyes staring deep into his.

"I am leaving Konoha, need to go back to Suna to follow up some matter."

"I see." He replied. "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow, gonna catch the morning flight." Temari stretched her arm. "Good thing we did finalize the papers, I can give them to Lady Tsunade after checking."

"…yeah." He replied, still looking at her.

"Do you have anything you want to ask me?" She arched an eyebrow, lips pursing together.

 _On his mind, was that grin she flashed at Neji._

"Yeah, you free tonight after work?" The question escaped his mouth.

"…Yes." She replied hesitantly.

"I was thinking we should go get dinner before you go," he scratched the back of his head. "You know, don't know when you'll be back."

"Might be a while, but I will be back." She smirked. "Already missing me, aren't you?"

He looked away, scratching his head sheepishly. "Troublesome."

She laughed a little.

* * *

He felt something burning when Neji walked towards her desk and led Temari away to lunch.

He wanted to jump when Temari accidentally tripped, and Neji held her by the waist.

He wanted to stab himself blind, or Neji, he wasn't sure, when she grinned at him, slightly blushing.

 _What is this feeling? So weird …_

 _It almost felt like…_

 _It almost felt like back in high school, university when he saw Ino clinging onto other guys …_

 _Almost._

His brain was bobbing in his head, stretching to its full capacity within his skull, pressing on all sides.

He liked her, for some weird reason – she was exactly the opposite of what he wanted.

To be fair, Ino was not what he wanted too, but he just assumed that since they grew up together, it is only logical that he would be attracted to her somehow.

To be honest, Shiho was cloest to what he wanted- not too pretty, not too ugly, definitely not troublesome – that girl barely spoke, all she does was stare at him.

Temari on the other hand – she was beautiful, bossy, loud – everything Shikamaru would define as troublesome. In a way she resembled Ino, in another way she was even more troublesome than Ino.

He supposed that it is only logical that he would be attracted to her too, since they were similar.

But that was not all.

It is unfair to Temari.

It is not fair when he still could not let Ino go, he go and mess around with her feelings.

Especially not when he knew that she was scarred too - by Hidan or even some reasons unknown to him. Something about her gives him the impression that the scars she bore is more than just that.

Sometimes he thought it would be better for him to just walk away – Shiho seemed like an easier option for everybody. He would get what he always wanted, and Temari could go on with her life.

But there is something about her that drives him crazy, something that even Ino had not make him feel before.

When he saw Ino with other guys, he wanted to run away – deny, deny until she returns to his arms. Then she would run off again, ripping his heart into shreads each time she falls into the arms of another.

When he saw Temari with Neji, he wanted to yank her away from him.

When he saw Temari with Hidan, he wanted to punch him in the face for whatever he had done to her.

Something about this strong, troublesome woman stirs a hidden beast within him. Out of all the feelings he could have for her, the strongest feeling was that …

 _He wanted to protect her._

"How troublesome," he muttered. He shook his head as an attempt to clear up his head. Digging into the lunchbox he bought at the company canteen, the taste was bland – perhaps his tongue was not functioning, perhaps it was his mind, he was not sure.

The rice was sticking to his throat; it was stuck there, making him uncomfortable.

He sighed as he stood up, taking his half-eaten lunchbox to the pantry.

As he returned to his seat, he was just in time to see Temari returned with Neji.

The two of them were laughing – it was quite rare for Neji to laugh like that.

At least not when he was sober, that is.

And her.

Temari looked extraordinarily radiant when she laughed, the teal green eyes thinning into a fine line, eyebrows rising in amusement; her tall nose gently wrinkling a little.

 _It was the face of genuine laughter._

She looked like she belonged in a movie, too good to be true.

He shook his head to snap out of his awkward gaze.

Only to realize that Neji was gone, and this troublesome woman stood in front of him, raising one of her eyebrows at him.

"What were you looking at?" She demanded, poking his chest with her finger.

"Not-nothing." He replied, slumping onto his chair.

She smirked and returned to her seat. "You better start thinking where you are bringing me tonight, but first we would have to get these to Lady Tsunade."

He nodded and collected the binders from her desk. "Let's go."

* * *

"Oww Shizune! There is so much work!" They could hear a loud scowl as they approached the officer at the top floor of the building.

Shikamaru knocked, and the door opened.

A woman opened the door - she was dressed in a dark business suit, her short hair neatly combed, framing her face. "Please come in, Shikamaru-kun, Temari-san."

In the middle of the neatly decorated office, sat a woman and gingantic stacks of documents.

She tied her long light blonde hair in two ponytails, each dangling next to her face. She sighed again, as she leaned forward, her large bosom landed on the desk; she sighed in exhaustion.

"Oh, here you are, Shikamaru." She said. "How's everything? And hello to you, Temari."

"Here are all the documents required at this stage, Tsunade-sama." Temari smiled at the older woman, putting the documents on her desk.

The older woman sighed again. "Thanks," she muttered, frowning. "I read the email from Gaara, you are returning to Suna tomorrow?"

"Yes, I need to report to Gaara about the initial stage of the projects."

"Good," she smiled, eyeing Shikamaru. "Did our associate do a proper job?"

"He was a great help." She grinned, glancing at the dark haired man standing next to her, shoulders slumping and looking bored.

"I suppose I won't see you until a few weeks later," said Tsunade. "I will make sure to send for you if there is anything."

"Sure." Temari returned a confident smile.

With a dip of her head she left the room, followed by a shrugging Nara.

* * *

"This place is fancy," Temari commented as they entered the restaurant – they were greeted by a gigantic crystal chandelier.

"Better than where Neji took you, eh?" He shrugged and said mindlessly, almost regretting saying it a second later.

She smirked. "Jealous are we?"

He said nothing in return.

"We will take the specials." He sat down and spoke to the waiter, giving the menus back to the mustached man.

Temari said nothing, taking a sip from her glass of water.

"So, " he began as their wine arrived. "How long will you go back to Suna?"

"Depends, if the board thinks that the progress is ok, I think I would be back in a few weeks."

"I see."

"Afraid that I won't be back?" Temari grinned at him, taking a sip of wine. "Don't worry, I will always be back to haunt you, at least for the time being."

Shikamaru smiled at her, taking a sip from his wine. "Don't drink too much, you might miss your flight."

"The same to you," she retorted with a playful smirk. "You might drunk-fuck someone else tonight if you down your wine like that."

"Nah," he said with another gulp of wine.

Temari raised an eyebrow. "Huh." She said with a smirk on her face.

Their food arrived, and they began eating silently.

The awkward silence lingered as they left the restaurant, some drinks later.

He stole occasional glances at the woman as he drove her in his car, she stared blankly out of the window – the cars dashed fro and back on the roads, like bustling lines of lights, against a continuous skyline of buildings and streetlights, illuminating the dark skies of midnight.

He found himself outside her door, as she unlocked the entrance to her apartment.

"Well, I guess I will see you later then?" Temari was not looking at him, her gaze was at the bottom right of her vision, staring on the marble flooring of the corridor – he was barely within the frame.

"…Yeah." Shikamaru muttered.

 _Come on._

Something rang in his brain.

 _You can't mess this up. This is a golden chance._

He tried to look away.

"So, good night," she smiled a little at him; he smiled back at her involuntarily.

 _Go on, do something._

"Good night." He turned around, and tried to walk away.

He found his feet hammered to the ground, unwilling to make another move.

 _Don't mess this up, Nara Shikamaru._

"Fuck it," he muttered under his breath, and turned around.

Temari was still standing there, looking at the awkward, perplexed expression on his face.

"Temari, I…"

She folded her arms in front of her chest, leaning at the doorframe. "Well?"

He stepped forward – one step, two step…

She became shorter in his eyes, raising her head and stared at him with her emerald-like eyes.

He took a gulp. "I…"

She said nothing.

"What a drag," he muttered.

He leaned forward, gently cupping her face with one of his hands, caressing her cheek with long, slender fingers; his other hand snaked itself onto her waist, pulling her closer.

She did not struggle – allowing him to pull her close, he planted his lips onto hers, softly touching each other.

Their tongue slid past teeth, entwining each other. He sucked greedily, as if the more he kissed her, the stronger the affirmation he held towards his feelings.

Temari broke from the kiss abruptly, gasping for breath.

Something changed in the way she looked at him.

As he backed off, his hand still on her face, she looked at and stared in his dark eyes.

Raising her hand, she pressed gently on his lip with one finger.

"Shikamaru, before anything else happens," she began, with a melancholic look in her emerald eyes. "I am not Ino, I never will be."

She lowered her hand, leaving the man dumbfounded.

"I know," he muttered. "All I need is time to forget her, you have to give me some time."

"I can't do this," she said, her lips trembling a little. "I won't do this."

"What do you mean?" He held her hand in his with his other hand. "You are not Ino, I know."

She shook his hand off hers.

"I don't want to feel unwanted!" She shouted in his face, staring into his eyes with desperation and sadness. "I am done waiting for someone who would never truly be mine to return, I don't know how you do it, but it definitely would not be me."

She took a deep breath, and sighed deeply.

"I am not going to be like you."

Shikamaru stared at her, his mouth slightly gapping.

"I…"

At this moment, his phone decided to ring again. _Perfect,_ he thought. _Who the fuck would call at this hour?_

He took it out and attempted to silence it, but the name that popped up on its screen made a vein pop at the side of his head.

A name he never expected, at least not at this crucial moment.

 _Yamanaka Ino._

* * *

Author's note:

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

To those who are confused: this story is basically a modern day love story - it is going to be complicated and not necessarily straightforward - all of them have their own story; roses are not as beautiful as they are without thorns, the same goes with this story.

Because this is an AU so I can do whatever I want hahaha (I am having fun doing that too)

Anyway, enjoy and do review!

V.S.V xoxo


	9. Wait

The weak sunrays of the morning sun peered through the glass walls of the airport.

Large orange digits flashed on the large digital clock above the LED board.

 _07:00_

Temari sat the bench opposite the check-in counters of Suna Airlines – another company owned by her family, like many others.

The staff of course recognized her, and invited her to go to VIP longue in the departure hall.

She said she would be staying there for a while.

The staff exchanged nervous glances as she sat there, right opposite their counters, fearing that one wrong step would cost them their jobs.

Perhaps they thought Temari was on a sudden customer test.

She paid no attention to them, as she checked the emails on her phone, she made occasional glances towards the entrances.

It was early, but the Konoha airport was busy – men and women dressed in suits and dress walked with suitcases dragging behind their backs.

Temari assumed that most of them are going on a business trip, given that it was an early Tuesday morning.

She waited, sucking her teeth as she jerked her head around and did not see a familiar face.

Temari hated waiting – she was never a patient person; ever since she was a child, she wanted to be first – first in class, first to get to school …

Besides, her father never allowed them to be sloppy, everything has to be done as soon as possible, no slacking, no waiting …

She hated, hated waiting.

The one time she decided to wait, for a person specifically, was to wait for Hidan.

She waited for him to realise his mistake - to turn around, to come back to her.

She nagged, she scolded, she cried, she did everything she could.

All of her waiting was in vain.

After that one time, she decided that waiting is one of the most stupid things that you could ever do. She decided that unless her life depended on it, she would not wait.

Waiting in vain breaks one's heart, torments one's soul and causes one to question one's existence.

But now she found herself waiting – she was not even sure whether he would come. Not after what happened last night, she was not sure.

 _She stared at Shikamaru froze, staring at the lit screen of his ringing phone._

 _Yamanka Ino._

 _That woman._

 _He turned his gaze at her. "I…"_

 _"Go ahead and pick up." She said, her voice not revealing any emotion._

 _Secretly she wanted him to turn it off, no, throw the phone away and kiss her madly._

 _But Shikamaru decided to listen to her and placed the phone next to his ear._

 _"Hello?"_

 _He listened._

 _"Ino… you need to calm down." The concern in his voice irritated every inch of her skin._

 _She listened._

 _"Hold on, I will be there in a minute. Bye." He pressed onto the phone and shoved it back into his pocket._

 _Her arms folded in front of her chest, fingers digging into her own arms._

 _She would not be surprised if blood began to seep from where her nails were digging into._

 _"Well?" She demanded. "You are going to find her?"_

 _"She is drunk and outside my door." He replied plainly. "My parents aren't home, I need to go get her home."_

 _"Do you?" She said, raising an eyebrow. "To get her into your home, that is what you mean."_

 _"Temari." He said, eyebrows converging in frustration. "I have to resolve this, you need to give me some time."_

 _"I told you, Nara Shikamaru." Temari said firmly, straightening her back. "I would not wait for you like you did for her."_

 _Shikamaru stared on the ground. "I guess you need a moment to calm down."_

 _"Huh." She snorted, saying nothing._

 _"I need to go find her." Shikamaru said. "At the very least, she is my childhood friend and I need to take care of her."_

 _She said nothing, emerald eyes staring deep into his obsidian eyes._

 _She saw his eyes filled with guilt and uncertainty._

 _He saw her eyes covered with disdain and despise._

 _Shikamaru stared at her with a certain air of sadness; he dragged himself reluctantly from the door, slowly towards the elevator._

 _"I will be taking the early morning flight tomorrow," she said, her eyes boring into his slumping back._

 _"Ah." He replied, raising one hand in the air, as he turned and walked into the elevator._

* * *

And here she sat, glancing at the entrance and her wristwatch impatiently.

 _07:05_

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, her legs crossing.

She _hated_ waiting.

She checked her phone, hoping that she had a missed call, a message.

 _Anything._

But then she realized, he did not have her number.

She did not even give him a name card.

All they did was have sex, kiss, tease each other and kiss again, apart from messing up each other's feelings.

She slammed her hand on her forehead. "Stupid." She muttered.

Turning her head she stared at the entrance.

No one with his spiky ponytail had made an appearance.

She sighed.

Another ten minutes, and then she would have to go in.

Her finger tapped impatiently on her knees, irritation sprawled all across her face.

 _Hurry up,_ she thought. _Hurry the fuck up._

* * *

 _07:10_

Temari sighed and stood up.

Taking her travelling bag in her hand, she decided to take a look at one of the shops near the counters.

She browsed through the books – cook books, tool books, and some terribly inappropriate adult book called 'Itcha Itcha Paradise'.

She sneered at the horrendous looking cover – a man chasing a woman, surrounded by hearts, and blunt-looking letters.

Just as she glanced around and sighed that all the good books must have gone to the grave with their authors, a book caught her eye.

She bit her lip a little, and picked it up.

The cover was a classic shade of blue, with golden printed letters.

Temari said nothing and took the book to the cashier.

Duly paying the money, she left with the book in her hand.

Printed in neat, traditional letters, the title read – ' _The Art of Waiting'._

She decided to read it for the four-hour flight, perhaps she could learn a thing or two.

Meanwhile, she still had a few minutes, if not a few seconds, of this amateur waiting game.

 _Five more minutes –_ she thought to herself.

 _Please come._

* * *

 _07:15._

"Miss Temari, you need to enter departure now, or you might miss your flight."

The ground attendant looked horrified as she approached a fuming Temari - she could almost see the smoke surrounding her.

She squealed like a frightened rabbit as Temari shot up from the chair.

She took one final look at the entrance - he was not there.

Something glinted in her emerald green eyes.

"Thanks," she nodded hastily at the attendant, who scurried away once she found the chance.

She closed her book, locking its content away.

The last sentence bore itself into her mind, burning.

 _Sometimes, you wait forever, and whatever you desire would never be there._

She bit her lip, shoving the book into her bag.

"Why did I even bothered," she muttered angrily; she fished the air ticket and passport out of the bag, marching hurriedly towards the doorway to the departure hall.

The line in front of the departure gate was short, she stood behind an old lady.

"I am sorry, dear, I can't quite seem to find my ticket among these." She was holding a stack of paper in her trembling, wrinkled hands.

Temari frowned, _if only that lazy ass was here, he would definitely say this is a drag …_

She slapped herself on the head. _Snap out of it,_ she muttered under her breath.

"Ah! Here it is hehehe." The old lady smiled and handed the air ticket to the immigration officer. She stumbled shakily into the gate.

Temari handed the air ticket and passport over.

The man looked at the passport and ticket quickly, scanning it with a machine and then shove it back into her hands.

She took it and began walking towards the departure hall.

The opaque glass walls seemed particularly depressing. She could see her own reflection from the surface.

 _One last time._

She turned around.

The tiny smile on her face disappeared from her face.

Her brows furrowed as she turned herself around, her back facing the entrance.

Her steps quickened – she was almost running.

"Fuck it all," she muttered as she stormed her way into the departure hall.

* * *

 _07:30_

He ran into the airport, panting.

He glanced at the LED board showing the flight numbers and status.

He found her flight.

 _Gate closed._ The yellow letters disappeared as the image on the screen changed.

Disappeared, just like her.

If he had a gun in his hand, he would shoot himself.

He walked quickly to the Suna Airline counter, and saw no sign of her.

He stared at the entrance of the departure hall, and thought of all her disappointment, anger and sadness.

He secretly cursed himself for being his own lazy self.

More so, he cursed himself for being the guy he was – someone who could not refuse an innocent request from the girl he loved, or at least who he was attracted to.

No matter what, he screwed up again and this other blonde girl left without another word.

 _Fucking idiot._

He fished his phone out of the pocket, in a desperate attempt to find her number.

Then he realized he never had her number, neither did she had his.

 _Perhaps I should write her an email to explain …_ he thought to himself as he began to type in the subject line of his email on his phone.

His finger left the phone and he shoved the phone into the pocket.

He turned around, his back facing the entrance of the departure hall.

"Screw it," he said softly to himself, as he drove himself back to the Konoha Corporation office, he found himself emotionless, a few drops of tears rolled down his way out of frustration.

He made sure they were gone before he set foot in the office.

Because even if the sky falls down, he still needed to work.

And in the office, any sign of weakness may get you into even more trouble.

He sat down at his seat and stared at the clock on the wall.

 _08:15_

 _It was too fucking early,_ he thought to himself, rubbing his forehead as he glance around the empty office.

 _But as usual, he was too late._

 _And now, all he could do is to wait._

 _Or try to forget._

* * *

 _Author's note:_

 _Another chapter! If you are curious about what happened with Shikamaru and Ino ... well stay tuned!_

 _Enjoy! Thank you for all the reviews and love you guys xoxox_

 _V.S.V_


	10. Further away

"You know, you are drinking an awful lot tonight, Shikamaru."

His friend stared over his shoulder – the darker-haired man waved at the bartender. "Another cup of scotch, on the rocks."

"Don't ignore me." Akimichi Chouji raised an eyebrow, putting a firm, large hand on his shoulder in concern.

Shikamaru gently pushed his hand away. "Let me be, Chouji." He emptied the cup before him, slamming it onto the bar.

"Is it about Ino?" Chouji held his cup in hand and swirled.

Through the glass, he saw his friend – as if a heavy weight was placed on his back. Shikamaru said nothing and downed another cup, signaling the bartender to repeat his order.

Shikamaru stared at the empty glass – the memories of the night before floated amidst his messy trail of thought …

 _She was slumping against the wall; next to her was a few beer bottles._

 _Her long platinum ponytail remained in place, her sky blue eyes darting to and fro. A tiny, drunk smile hanging on her face with her glossed lip._

 _Ino was never a good drinker – her limit was much less than what she thought she could drink._

 _But a few beers would not be able to knock the Bush Clover out - he knew that all too well._

 _"You were not drunk," he said, staring down at her._

 _"I am a little tipsy," she replied in somewhat stirred words. "Can still make conversation." She raised an 'okay' sign with her fingers, giggling._

 _"Let's get you home," he crouched down and slung her arm over his shoulder, helping her up. "You are a mess."_

 _"Wait, I need to use the bathroom," she pointed her perfectly manicured finger at his door. "Besides, I need to talk to you."_

 _He sighed, and opened the door to his apartment._

 _Escorting her to the bathroom, he gently shut the door as she walked inside._

 _He fished a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket, and lit a cigarette._

 _Ino emerged from the washroom and slumped onto the spot next to him as he blew the first puff of cigarette smoke out of his mouth._

 _"You wanted to talk to me?" Shikamaru arched an eyebrow._

 _"You are no fun when you're sober, Shikamaru."_

 _"I can't be drunk all the time." He sighed. "Well, I wish I could, but no I can't."_

 _She giggled a little and then sighed"Yeah." Ino leaned onto his shoulder, he did not flinch. "You know, I saw Sasuke today."_

 _"Sasuke, huh?"_

 _Sasuke was that someone Ino has always loved._

 _For a long time, Shikamaru wanted to be Sasuke. Simply because Sasuke was the one Ino loved, and he wanted to be that someone._

 _No one was at Sasuke's level, to Ino, he was the Prince in shining armour._

 _She even fell apart with her best friend Sakura over the guy._

 _And of course she was heart broken when Sasuke left the country without a word for further studies._

 _"So he came back from Oto?"_

 _"Yeah. I heard that he was working freelance now." Ino looked saddened, staring at the far corner of his living room._

 _All this time, she had been waiting for him._

 _In some way, he had copied from her - both of them waiting for someone who would never truly be theirs._

 _Shikamaru felt sorry for her - just as he felt sorry for himself._

 _"So you are going to go after him?"_

 _"Of course I would, I am sure that he is the one." Blunt determination laced her voice._

 _"What about that pale-face guy?"_

 _"You mean Sai? We flirted, please. That's all." Ino smiled with a wave of dismissal, something was strange – her eyelids fluttered more than they should, her voice shook a little._

 _They remained silent for a while. Shikamaru breathed another mouthful of smoke._

 _The mint-scented smog emerged from his nostrils and gaps of his mouth._

 _"You have been waiting all these years haven't you, Shikamaru?"_

 _Shikamaru extinguished his cigarette after inhaling from the white rod, and sighed deeply._

 _The last puff of smoke escaped his lips._

 _"I have." There was no anger, no sadness. He was just putting the truth to her face._

 _He did wait for her - all those years in high school and college._

 _"Won't you hate me for all that wait?" Ino frowned as she stared at Shikamaru._

 _"I tried, but I couldn't." He sighed. "It is impossible to hate someone you care for."_

 _"Damn it Shikamaru, why can't I just love you?" Ino sat up and rubbed her forehead._

 _"Tch, if you could you would have done it already." He was surprised by himself – a few months ago he would not be able to say something like that – instead he would have said "go ahead and try, I don't care if you fail, just love me." – something like that._

 _"If only things aren't as troublesome as that." Shikamaru sighed again. Another blonde came into his mind - the sassier, curvier one, her hands on her hips, lips slightly pouting, glaring at him with emerald like eyes..._

 _"Ha." She said, slumping back onto the couch._

 _Shikamaru smiled, he knew, after all these years, that look on her face._

 _"You are torn between Sasuke and Sai, the other guy." It was not a question, but a statement._

 _He looked into her bright blue eyes, waiting for an answer._

 _Those glassy looking eyes pondered, a rim of transparent tears began to well at the edges of Ino's eyes._

 _She raised her head and breathed deeply. "Nope, I am not going to ruin my mascara." Then her perplexed expression burst into a laugh._

 _"I don't want to make the wrong choice."_

 _"I mean you can't be wrong, if you like Sai, go ahead."_

 _"I am not sure how Sai feels though, I mean, what if he does not think the same way I do?"_

 _"How would you know without trying?" Shikamaru shrugged._

 _"What would you do Shikamaru?" She turned and stared deep into his eyes._

 _That question stopped him right in the tracks._

 _Only at that moment he realized he faced the same question._

 _Ino and Temari._

 _What if one day Ino suddenly changed her mind and told him that she loved him?_

 _Should he go after Temari?_

 _He knew that Temari liked him, and he liked her._

 _But what if he missed Ino, and then screwed up with Temari?_

 _What if …_

 _"I will try to get over Sasuke," Ino decided, with a smile on her face. "And I will see how it turns out with Sai."_

 _Shikamaru nodded, standing up. "Let's get you home. You still living at the suburbs?"_

 _Ino nodded with a smile._

"Shikamaru?" Chouji pushed Shikamaru on the shoulder gently.

He shook himself and stared at Chouji's small eyes, welling with concern and worry.

"I screwed up big time, Chouji." Shikamaru attempted to stand up. "How troublesome."

Chouji managed to catch him before he fell onto the floor.

"You are wasted." Chouji glanced at the clock. "And it's only nine."

"Get me home, Chouji." He murmured, before everything turned dark.

 _"You know Shikamaru?"Ino said, as their car exited the tunnel._

 _"Huh?"_

 _"Sometimes, you have to stumble on some wrong paths to get to the right one." She muttered. "Sometimes, what you think is wrong, may be the right one after all."_

 _"If you put it that way, I suppose."_

 _Ino said nothing, her eyelids were shut tight as he drove._

 _Her father thanked him as he passed his daughter straight back into his arms – still in one piece._

 _"Sorry for that, Shikamaru. Ino is a heap of trouble." Her father, Inoichi apologized._

 _"No problem, uncle Inoichi," he smiled at the older man. "It's not like I can dump her outside my door and do nothing."_

 _"I mean more than that, I knew what that girl has done to you."_

 _Shikamaru said nothing. His smile faded a little._

 _"Her love was blunt, and she took advantage of your affection towards her…"_

 _"It is all in the past now." He said softly. "We are still perfectly good friends, no matter what. We grew up together, nothing can replace that."_

 _Inoichi frowned, with an embarrassed smile on his face. "Right."_

 _"If that's all, I would go home now, it's almost 3am in the morning."_

 _"Sure, send my regards to your father, tell him that we would soon meet up."_

 _"No problem, good night."_

 _Shikamaru sighed deeply, lighting a cigarette as he treaded away from the door of the Yamanaka residence._

 _In the past, he said._

 _Well, while there was no point indulging in the past – his present was nothing to be fond of._

 _He thought of driving to Temari's place – but given the fact that she was probably sleeping, he decided against that idea._

 _He went home instead, falling asleep right after his shower._

 _And as usual, he overslept._

 _Only managed to get to the airport so that he could miss the sight of her._

 _Perhaps it was not meant to be._

 _Perhaps she was the right person, but it was not the right time._

 _Perhaps he should let her go._

* * *

She sighed deeply as she slumped onto the large caramel coloured sofa.

"You looked tired, and you are not as half as annoying at dinner." Kankuro suggested. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Temari flashed a tired smile.

His other brother – a smaller, red-haired man stared at her with his turqoise teal eyes. "Something tells me," he began, slowly. "Something happened to you in Konoha."

"Yea, about that." Temari bit her lip. "I don't have to go back that soon, right?"

"You are supposed to go back two weeks from now," Gaara replied. "If you don't want to go, I can send Kankuro."

"That'd be great." Temari smiled at her little brother. "I need to check the files in Suna, and follow up on that new education project."

"Sure thing." Gaara nodded. "I might visit Konoha later myself, want to meet an old friend of mine."

"That blonde guy?" Kankuro arched an eyebrow, shaking his head. "Too loud for my taste."

Gaara nodded. "He is loud."

Temari smiled, something has changed from Gaara's normal cold expression. "He might be loud, but he sure is cheerful and motivational."

A tiny arch appeared on Gaara's face, he raised a hand and touched his tattoo on his forehead – the character 'love' in red ink.

"Right." He said softly. "If that is the case, you could swap places with Kankuro for the time being. I need some help with that education project too."

"Yeah, I need to go hang out somewhere, the desert can be boring sometimes."

"No problem," she gave her brothers a warm smile.

Temari returned to her room, and took the book she bought at the Konoha airport.

She flipped the book open, at the page where she placed a bookmark.

She sat on her bed, her eyes fixated at that sentence.

 _Sometimes you need to be distanced from things that you wish for – that way you would know whether what you are waiting for is your heart's true desire._

"Let's see if that is true."

She muttered, as she placed the book at her bedside table, trying to find solace in the dark as she closed her eyes.

* * *

Author's note:

New chapter! Finally you know what happened between Shikamaru and Ino.

Now, aren't you excited about what would happen to both of them? I am excited too, let's hope I finish the next chapter ASAP.

Meanwhile, enjoy this chapter! Read and review! xoxo

V.S.V


	11. No one

Shikamaru said nothing, when he arrived at work two weeks later, and found a brunette haired man at her place opposite his desk.

"Hey," the guy raised his hand at him. "Kankuro."

"Hey." He replied before slumping into his chair."You are…?"

"I am the new contact," he replied. "Temari has other stuff to deal with back at home."

"I see." Shikamaru said softly, secretly clenching his fists.

"Is there a problem?" Kankuro raised an eyebrow; he looked just as irritated as the man across the desk.

"No, let's get to work." Shikamaru felt like all the energy he pumped up this morning was gone in a split second.

 _She promised she would be back._

 _And now she is nowhere to be found._

He sighed deeply and began typing.

One good thing was that Kankuro did not seem to mind him slacking, taking naps during work.

That was the only good thing – part of him thanked god for sending Kankuro here, part of him missed being whipped by a certain green-eyed blonde.

* * *

He went to have a drink with his friends later that night. The bar was filled with white-collar workers, frustrated about their boring, irritable life.

"You know the thing about women." Kiba suddenly said, his face red – Shikamaru was not sure whether it was those red marks on his face or whether he was drunk. "I mean what do they expect – they expect you to wait for them all the time, says it is not the right time all that crap…"

There was no point stopping Kiba as he barked his statement about women.

"Let me tell you guys some truth, when a woman ask a guy to wait for her, no guy would do that."

Shikamaru's eyebrow arched.

"Ten out of ten guys would just find someone else, what's the point of waiting?" He finished his statement by downing an entire cup of tequila.

Despite Kiba being brainless most of the time, he does have a point.

All those years he spent waiting, all of them down the drain.

Just last week he saw Ino when he went off work, she was with Sai – that pale white-faced guy.

That glittering smile as she stared into his eyes, her hands sealed with his – no matter how many times he thought of it, it still pained him, a stinging pain in his heart.

No matter how many times he told himself that he had gotten over Ino completely, it was a big fat lie.

At that moment, he decided that love really, was such a pain in the ass.

He completed the thought as he downed his cup of scotch, burning his throat and burning his thought deep into his mind.

* * *

 _A month later._

He heard nothing from Temari, not an email, no messages.

Nothing.

He was walking home, a lit cigarette in his hand.

He looked up and saw the orange orb slowly descending behind the far away mountains, its hue burning the sky.

 _Perhaps she had already forgotten everything about him, after all, he is a man she met in a one-night stand._

 _No one would ever be serious about a person they met at a one-night stand, no one._

 _The one thing about one-night stands is that there are no feelings attached, people meet, fuck and then disappear from each other's lives._

 _Anyone who takes it seriously is an idiot._

 _He is anything but an idiot._

 _Everyone knows that there is no such thing as true love in this world, everything is calculated; efficiency is everything._

 _The pure, everlasting love is myth, something that only exist in cheesy, troublesome romance novels and stories._

 _Their knowledge of each other remains on a physical level – in reality they barely knew each other for a month._

 _This fact itself proves the fragility of their relationship._

"Shikamaru-kun!" He stopped walking as he heard the shout and hurried steps coming from behind his back.

"Hey," he looked over his shoulder and saw Shiho, smiling at him.

"I … I was wondering if I would see you today." She said as she walked beside him, staring down at her feet.

"What about it?" He said absent-mindedly, his eyes still fixated at the burning sun above, its orange aura dying the clouds red and tangerine.

"I was wondering … if… if," Shiho stammered, her face stained by the orange aura of the sun. "If you would like to see a movie together, tomorrow after work."

Shikamaru arched an eyebrow.

"Yea sure…"

 _It would not hurt, would it?_

Perhaps this blonde girl in front of him could put his mind at ease for a while, at least, away from the plague-like memories of the other two blonde girls that turned his life upside down.

He knew deep down it was unfair to Shiho – she would not enjoy any affection from him. She was nothing but a companion, a back up plan – if all things fail, he could always have this not-so pretty or ugly, not troublesome woman.

But it felt good to be wanted – damn it felt _really good._

* * *

It was late at night, the moon hung quietly, staring down at the only light at the Sabuku mansion.

Temari was typing, turning and referencing from the documents scattered all across her table.

"You should get some rest," her little brother appeared in front of her door, dressed in a dark red bathing robe. "It is already 2 something."

"So should you." She smiled at him. "I am going to fix some of these, and then I will sleep."

"You know I can't sleep."

"Doesn't the medicine help?" She arched an eyebrow, standing up. "I thought you have been seeing the doctor."

"Medicine doesn't really help, all it does is knock me out." Gaara sighed, he was holding two cups of hot tea in his hand.

He put one of them on Temari's messy desk.

"Thanks." She smiled at him as he took a seat from across the table.

"Kankuro told me about Konoha," Gaara sipped from his tea. "He said that it was okay."

"It is." She looked away, holding her cup of tea in her hand.

"You are obviously the better diplomat." Gaara said. "Something is stopping you from going back there."

Temari closed her eyes for a second, and she nodded slowly.

"Yea." She said, looking at Gaara over her shoulder.

He looked at her for an answer; she could not read the expression on his face.

"Hidan." She lied right in his face, her head was churning.

 _It is dead obvious, Gaara would know that I am lying._

"I see." He nodded with acknowledgement. "I would not force you to do anything." There was a peculiar look in his teal eyes, but he said nothing more.

"I would tell you when I am ready to go back." She smiled at him. "So no worries."

Gaara nodded. "Get some rest, we have a meeting tomorrow morning."

"Sure, good night."

Her brother left the room.

She sighed and put the empty cup onto the desk.

For the first two weeks she came back, she wanted to send him an email, leave him a message on the phone, but she decided against that idea – it sounded too desperate, as if she could not live without him.

Maybe he has moved on, maybe he found another girl in one of his nightlife excursions.

Maybe he even found someone that could fill the hole that Ino left in his heart.

She shook her head in dismissal.

Sabuku no Temari is a very independent woman. She does not need a man to survive. She does not need a man to rely on.

She has always been proud of herself, being as independent and strong as she could be.

That does not mean she was never sad, or vulnerable – sometimes she wished she could cry, that she could go back and throw herself into her father's arms, purring, asking for a pat on the head or a kiss on her cheek.

But no – her father would not tolerate weakness, not even the signs of it.

'As children of the Sabuku family, you are born into the best and are expected to be the best.' That was what he always said.

No tears were allowed – not even when their mother died from giving birth to Gaara.

'It does not matter what scars they burn on you, wear them like a medal.' Her father used to say that all the time.

He was strict, very strict – no nonsense, anything that is not perfect is wrong in his eyes, which is why he hated Gaara to the guts – the youngest sibling, despite being a genius, was mentally unstable, which was something his father could not tolerate.

And of course, he almost lost it when suddenly the three siblings plunged into rebellion.

They skipped school, disappeared for weeks, only to return home, her hair tied into four crazy tails, wearing fishnets here and there; Kankuro painted his face with crazy patterns… Gaara almost made him die of a heart attack when he emerged behind their backs with a burning red tattoo on his forehead.

All their father did was scorch scar after scar on them, physical and psychological.

It made them the person they are today – strong, independent individuals who could stand up against the world if they wanted to.

It also made it impossible for Temari to trust anyone – no one was really there for her, everyone close to her just end up hurting her, adding to her collection of scars – her father, Hidan …

 _But it does not matter now._

 _As long as she keeps her heart locked away, no one can hurt her._

 _No one._

And this is exactly what she would do.

* * *

Author's note:

Another chapter!

I hope this clears up something up:)

It is true that Shikamaru still cares for Ino: it is only logical that he retains some feelings for her, it would not be possible for him to throw everything away ... as for Shiho, she is not as important to Shikamaru and is an optional existence, you get the picture.

As for Temari: you can see that her childhood was rough, and that plus Hidan made her the person she is ...

Well, so much for spoilers/ clarifications: enjoy the story!

V.S.V xoxo


	12. Blonde Troubles

"Shikamaru-kun," she smiled at him, putting her chopsticks next to her bento.

"Yes?" He did not look up, putting another mouthful into his mouth.

"Would you be free tonight?" Shiho's smile hanged on her face. Her brown eyes staring at him – she wore contact lenses, after one time Shikamaru said to Chouji one time that he preferred girls without glasses; she overheard him and the next day she went to work alongside him, revealing her small, slit like brown eyes.

They looked him softly, gently.

"No, I am going out with the guys." He tried to end the topic as soon as he could, trying to mask away the pain he held.

"I see…." She looked down, the smile faded a little on her face. She took her chopsticks and started to eat again.

He sighed as he closed his bento box and took it to the nearest rubbish bin.

They have been in this peculiar relationship for some months now, she clung onto him as if her life depended on him, but he never called her his girlfriend; they do not hold hands in public; nor do they kiss or display any sort of affection.

Even sex was a rare occurrence – he never initiated anything, if she started it, he would do what was required.

No feelings, no affection – as if they were mating.

She was nothing to him – a disposable companion.

The only time he ever showed her a tad bit of affection, no, kindness, was when he was drunk like a mush, she helped him home.

She took care of him and when he woke up, he gave her a quick hug and said 'thank you.'

After that, she seemed besotted with him, following him everywhere.

Even his friends got used to her presence around, he said nothing when they referred her as his girlfriend, lady friend – it does not matter to him.

But those closer to him know.

Names have no meaning.

She has no meaning.

Shiho is nothing to him.

* * *

He found himself at the bar again after work.

If one could only drown in alcohol to ease one's heartache, he would gladly die that way.

Originally he planned to get some barbeque with Chouji. That was the plan.

Bumping into Ino was not part of the plan.

Bumping into her at Sai's arm was not part of the plan.

And what happened next was definitely was not part of the plan.

 _"Oh hey Shikamaru!" Ino smiled at him as she saw him._

 _There was no escape. He frowned and approached, with Chouji by his side._

 _"I want you to meet Sai." She leaned onto his shoulder._

 _The pale faced man smiled at him. "Sai, these are my friends – Shikamaru and Chouji."_

 _"You have very adorable friends, beautiful." He said, with a smile on his face._

 _Handsome, cool, plus he calls her 'beautiful'._

 _The only thing that Sai was not is that he was not Sasuke – no, actually he was similar to Sasuke._

 _The only thing different is that he likes her back._

 _"Hey." Shikamaru replied._

 _He could hear a bell ring in his mind, as he saw her hand, resting on his._

 _On their index fingers, was a rose gold couple ring._

 _This time, Ino meant business – she was not playing around._

 _Finally, he could not convince himself to cling onto any thought that Ino would come back to him. His brilliant mind of IQ 200 simply slammed it in his face – it would be against logic._

 _Ino has moved on, like she always has._

 _Only this time, she won't be coming back._

 _As he stared over his shoulder, seeing how Ino clinged onto Sai, her beaming grin at him, returned by his warm gaze and soft smile, he shook his head._

And that was why he ended up at the nearby bar restaurant.

He ate a burger and began to drink, as if the alcohol could drown his heart, waning the pain.

 _The pain of letting go, letting go of the final strand of hope._

Chouji deliberately avoided mentioning Ino. As Shikamaru's best friend since childhood, he knew that he was upset, while most part of him had came to a compromise with the truth, part of him was still saddened by this recent circumstance.

He used to nap it off, but now he found alcohol, and it became a new hobby.

That, and cigarettes.

Shikamaru's parents hated it when he smokes or drinks – it was bad for his health obviously.

But Shikamaru does not care – he said whatever numbs him is good.

Chouji felt that it was lucky that Shikamaru found no interest in drugs.

He needed to something to talk about - Shikamaru drinks more than he normally does when they are not talking.

He decided to talk about something else, and another blonde came into his mind.

"You know, I shouldn't say things like that," said Chouji, holding a glass of beer, its foam overflowing from the glass. "It is not nice to treat Shiho like that, after all, she is a nice person."

Shikamaru eyed his friend with a frown on his expression. He was a bit tipsy, a hue of pink on his cheeks. "Look Chouji, there is no point being nice in romance."

Chouji said nothing as Shikamaru continued on, slightly slurring.

"I am a nice person, right? I have been waiting for Ino all those years when she went around fucking guy after guy, I waited." He took another gulp from his glass of whisky. "Nothing ever happened to me, it taught me something."

"And what would that be?" Chouji drank from his beer.

"If you don't get attached, you won't get hurt – that's why I like one-night stands."

"But how could you do it, I mean, you barely know that person." A blush emerged on his big-boned friend's face. "This is sex we are talking about."

"That is exactly the point – no knowledge, no feelings, no one gets hurt."

Shikamaru emptied his glass, and waved for another glass of whisky.

"I thought you liked martinis, you barely order them now." Chouji commented.

"Not strong enough," Shikamaru replied. "It is too troublesome to remain sober after so many drinks in this insane world."

"You know," Chouji chuckled. "I have been hearing you complaining about love these few months. Funny thing to hear when you say you don't believe in it."

Shikamaru arched an eyebrow. "Hmph."  
"I met a girl on one of my business trips to Kumo."

"Really? What is she like?"

"She," Chouji raised his head, looking at the ceiling dreamily. "She had amber-coloured eyes dipped in honey, chocolate-coloured skin and dark purple-red hair just like beetroots."

"She sounds like she works in a grocery store." Shikamaru joked. "I am glad that you found someone Chouji."

"Heh, you would find someone too." Chouji smiled. "But honestly, if it is not Shiho, you should let her go. It is best for you and her."

Shikamaru turned back, staring at the malty brown coloured liquor in his glass, the ice dangling inside. The sound of the cubes clashing with the glass walls made his brain throb.

His mind was as blank as a sheet of white paper – _must be the alcohol._

"Well, isn't this a youthful reunion!" Someone slammed his way at the bar table.

Shikamaru turned and saw a man with a bowl hair-cut and thick brows.

"Lee, it's been a long time." He greeted him, behind this comic-looking man stood another man, white eyes staring at him. The bushy browed man went over to greet Chouji and sat down next to him.

"Neji." He arched an eyebrow.

"Shikamaru." He sat down beside him and ordered a glass of white wine.

"How was your trip?"

"As usual, nothing much to see in Suna – pretty much sand here and there."

 _Suna, huh …_

Shikamaru uttered a few sound of agreement.

"I saw Temari-san," he said mindlessly.

"Oh?" That name stirred the still puddle in his heart. The image of a blonde, green-eyed woman floated to his mind.

"She hosted me for dinner." Neji said, smiling. "That was very nice of her."

His wine arrived and he took a sip.

"I see." Shikamaru downed his drink.

"You like her, don't you?" Neji turned at him.

"Nah, too troublesome." The question tugged his heartstrings; the only, immediate response he could find was his usual line.

Neji had a bemused expression on his face. "Well, she is a very charming person."

Shikamaru arched an eyebrow at that comment.

" _You_ like her, don't you Neji?"

The white-eyed man took another sip from his wine. "I do."

Part of Shikamaru wanted to punch Neji on the spot.

But a larger part of him told him to stay put.

 _Give it up, Shikamaru. You have no right to do such a thing._

 _She deserves someone better, definitely not who you are right now._

 _You are just a manipulative fuck boy, the kind of person she hated to the guts._

"Good luck." Shikamaru commented and left a few banknotes on the table.

Throwing his suit jacket over his shoulder, he shoved a cigarette between his lips and left.

He did not stop when Chouji called his name from the bar, not when the bartender called him for his change.

He wanted to be alone.

He closed his eyes for a brief moment as he breathed in the hot, minty smoke from the glowing white rod.

* * *

It was lucky that Shikamaru went to the nearby bar and did not drive his car, or he would have probably killed himself crashing into a wall.

He angrily opened the door, and walked into the living room.

The house was dark.

He saw Shiho, sitting there quietly, staring at him as he walked inside.

He said nothing when she duplicated the keys, saying that she would come around and tidy his house.

"Why are you here?" He asked impatiently, as he took off his shoes. "Didn't I tell you I was going out with the guys?"

"I am waiting for you, Shikamaru-kun." She answered in the dark.

"Huh." He slumped into the armchair. "I am here."

She walked into the kitchen and returned with a cup of warm water in her hands.

"I needed to talk to you. I feel like you are trying to avoid me." She put the cup in front of him, there was great concern in her eyes.

"I told you, Shiho." He rubbed his temples. "I needed my space."

"I understand." She nodded obediently.

"Then why are you pestering me?" Shikamaru closed his eyes.

"I don't mean that…" She said softly.

"Didn't I tell you before? If you are not satisfied with the state we're in, you can always go." Shikamaru said, his was annoyed, irritated. "I thought we are through with this."

Shiho said nothing - he could vaguely see the tears rolling down her face, she whimpered, walking towards him and knelt on the ground in front of him.

She gently wrapped her arms around his waist, her head resting on his knees.

"Why can't you try to love me, Shikamaru-kun?" He felt a patch of moistness on his trousers.

Shikamaru could not stand a crying woman.

He thought of putting his hand on her head as a gesture of comforting her.

His hand lingered in the air for a few seconds, but he slowly retracted the hand back to the side of his head.

 _She is pathetic._

 _Not because she is crying on his lap, he thinks she is pathetic, because she reminds him of himself._

 _His past pathetic self, crying, begging Ino to love him back._

 _The first time she dumped him, he cried in the phone, asking her the same question._

"Don't cry." He said, in a monotone. "I hate it when women cry."

She looked up as he attempted to stand up.

"I remembered you once said, Shikamaru-kun."

He arched an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"You said you would like an average job, a wife who is not troublesome, not too pretty or ugly, two children… all that." She wiped away the tears, staring down at her feet. "I want to be a part of that."

He sighed deeply, as he gently pushed her by the waist, guiding her to the door.

In his other hand was her bag.

"Shiho," he said. "It is troublesome, but life does not go the way it is. People don't get what they wish for."

Shiho said nothing, as she put on her shoes.

"Anyway, let's talk about this when I am sober." He closed the door in her face.

He walked towards the couch and lit a cigarette.

In his hazed state, he saw the back of a blonde woman, tall and confident.

She turned around and grinned at him.

Her eyes shone like emeralds.

He breathed out another mouthful of smoke.

 _I wonder how she has been doing?_

 _Has she found someone? Perhaps she likes Neji too?_

 _Neji is a nice guy – gentleman, courteous, caring …_

 _Good-looking too._

 _She deserves to have a nice guy._

He shook his head in dismissal, and breathed out another cloud of smoke.

His phone glowed in the dark, the notification flashed repeatedly.

He took the device and checked. An email from his boss's secretary, Shizune.

 _Shikamaru,_

 _A business conference would be held in Kiri in a week. Please attend as the company's representative. The files will be at your desk tomorrow._

 _Flights and accommodation would be arranged._

 _Shizune_

"Aw great," he threw his head back. "Travelling is such a drag."

He sighed another time, breathing out a last cloud of smoke from the glowing cigarette.

He did not hope that the everlasting rain would rinse his sinful self.

At least the rains in Kiri could cleanse his mind.

After all, that place is always raining.

 _All goddamn year._

* * *

 _Author's note:_

 _I am overwhelmed by all the reviews! Thanks for the love and comments - this just shows how much you enjoy the story and I am very happy to know that._

 _I hope you enjoy the chapter! And don't worry about Temari, she will appear soon enough ;)_

 _Enjoy!_

 _V.S.V xoxo_


	13. Becoming

He sighed as he stepped out of the airport.

Turns out in Kiri, when it does not rain, there is fog.

The sky was covered with a shroud of grey, covering most of the faraway scenery.

There was a certain calmness amidst the grey, apart from the voidness it creates - nothing, nothing but greyness.

He caught a taxi and went to the hotel; overwhelmed, he sank himself into the bed without bothering to change into something more comfortable, hoping to find some peace in his sleep.

Sooner than he wished, he woke up from his futile attempt of slumber.

 _06:30._

He was not due to be at the meeting at 9am, and the Conference hall is located beneath his room.

He pulled his ponytail off and scratched his cascading black hair furiously.

Pulling himself out of his clothes, he went to the shower.

The warm water glided itself all across his body, and he rubbed shampoo and soap, perhaps along with some sense as well, onto himself.

His head was throbbing with the lack of hydration – _he knew he should not have drunk that much on the plane._

 _The flight attendant, he remembered, looked horrified and concerned as she served him the third cup of scotch._

 _"Sir," he recalled that she wore her hair in two buns atop her head. "Are you sure you want another cup?"_

 _He gave her an assuring smile before pouring the cup down his throat._

* * *

He sighed as he rubbed his hair dry, turning at the clock.

 _07:03._

He decided to put on a t-shirt and boxers for the time being; sitting on the bed, he turned on the television.

He was not paying attention to the flashing screen - the sound of people talking was annoying, troublesome.

But it made him feel less lonely.

Anything to fill the void in the room would be nice.

He walked up to the window and peeked through the curtains – all he saw was fog.

No clouds, no nothing.

"You know, I am always open to new options." He heard an especially irritating voice emanating from the television.

He turned and saw a silver-haired man, grinning sleazily at the reporter.

Beneath his face were the titles of the entertainment news.

" _Hidan: I am always looking out for new options – career and romance."_

Turns out Hidan is a fashion model. Not an especially famous one, rather, he is infamous for his 'bad boy', scandalous behaviour.

"Hidan-san," the reporter asked, in an ever-so curious voice. "What about your recent leaked sex tape, any comments?"

A masked man approached the camera and blocked the microphone. Hidan could be seen spitting out his tongue and winking at the camera.

"Hidan would have no comment on this." The man said, in a low, stern voice.

Then they jumped to commercials.

Shikamaru turned off the television.

 _Sex…tape?_

He found himself turning on his computer and typing into the empty bar at the search engine.

 _'Hidan', 'Sex tape'._

He secretly prayed that the female lead was not her.

A million results popped up, he immediately clicked on the link from Konoha Entertainment News.

Glancing through the article, he let out a sigh of relief.

 _Of course she would not be so stupid to let him to record a sex tape._

The alleged star of the sex tape was another not-so famous female actress – she looked familiar but her name escaped his mind.

It does not matter.

It was definitely not Temari.

He turned as the telephone rang.

"Hello?" He picked it up.

"This is a morning call for Mr. Nara," the gentle voice said. "It is now eight in the morning."

"Thanks." He put the phone back at its place.

He took off his t-shirt, and changed into a dark suit.

He fixed his cufflinks, tying his hair back into his usual ponytail, and left the room.

* * *

The welcoming address was brief – just the way he liked it.

The CEO of the Kiri Corporation, Terumi Mei addressed the audience quickly before letting her subordinates to do the presentation themselves.

He was partially sleeping through the presentations – they were nothing new, everything was mentioned in the brochures he read beforehand.

"Very well," Mei announced with a smile. "After this there would be a wine reception."

Shikamaru stood up as the crowd moved, stretching his back.

At his peripheral vision, he saw a familiar shade of blonde.

He reached out and held a glass of red wine in his hand, waiting for her to turn around.

 _It was_ _ **her**_ _._

She tied her four pigtails into two longer ones, emerald eyes shining like the real precious stones. She smiled at the man next to her and nodded, as he talked to her.

Then she looked up.

His dark obsidian eyes stared into her shining emerald ones.

His feet were pinned onto the ground as she approached; secretly he counted the steps she took.

 _Fifteen. It took her fifteen steps to bridge the gap that was between them for months_

"Shikamaru." The sound of his name escaped her perfectly painted lips.

"It's been a long time." He saw that in her hand was a glass of champagne.

"It is." She replied, with a smile.

"About that," he dug his free hand into his pocket and fished something out.

He shoved a name card into her hand. "My name card - never got the opportunity to give you this."

Temari smirked and passed him one of hers. "Same here."

"How have you been?"

"Busy. Actually I am here with my brother." She turned around and next to her was a red-haired man. He was slightly shorter than him, his eyes teal, in a lighter shade of green. The expression on his face was unreadable.

"Sabuku no Gaara." He passed him a name card, to which Shikamaru returned one of his. The shorter ma offered his hand.

Something gave him an uneasy feeling around this man – he eyed Shikamaru coldly, as if he had detected some change in his sister's aura.

"Nara Shikamaru." He took the hand and shook it firmly. The red-haired man had a firm, hard grip – _just like his sister._

"Mr. Sabuku, we have been looking around for you." Some voices buzzed next to them. They were faces that Shikamaru does not recognize.

Gaara nodded and excused himself. "Send my regards to Naruto."  
He nodded mindlessly. _Naruto?_

"Busy, I could see that." Shikamaru smiled at her.

"Yeah." Her eyelids fluttered. "How have _you_ been?"

"Fine." He replied with a smile. "You have time for dinner tonight? Thought we might catch up a little."

"Sure, I will make sure Gaara is well settled-down first, wait for me at the lobby at eight."

"Sure." He stared as the blonde glided thorugh crowds and disappeared.

He finished the glass of wine – _it was bittersweet._

* * *

He exited the lift at eight o'clock sharp, only to see that she was already there.

She was dressed in a camel coloured trench coat, complete with darker brown boots.

Her hair was let down, and she stared impatiently at the watch as he approached.

"Let's go." He opened the door for her as they walked out of the hotel.

The night remained foggy, the lights looked like gigantic fireflies hidden amidst the grey curtains surrounding the city.

He opted for a casual suit jacket and more comfortable trousers.

"What's famous in Kiri in terms of food?" She arched an eyebrow and asked.

"Seafood I suppose," he suggested. "After all, they began as a fishing village."

"Argh," she pouted. "Squids and Octopuses are definitely not what I have in mind for a good dinner."

He laughed a little. "Let's just go get normal food."

"Yeah." She smiled back at him.

They managed to find a small cozy restaurant, just a few turns from the hotel.

"I heard from Neji," she stared into his dark eyes. "So you have finally gotten over Ino, huh?"

He finished his tiny cup of sake and put it back on the table.  
"I suppose so." He tried to change the subject.

"What's her name?" She raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Your girlfriend."

"She is not my girlfriend." He snapped, looking away. "It's Shiho, you know her." He tried to soften up a little with his voive.

"Ah." There was no jealousy, no anger - just the sound of pure acknowledgement.

"You have gotten over Hidan already, haven't you?." It was the first thing that popped up his mind.

"I did a long time ago." Temari answered, her gaze still like the great green lake in storybooks he read as a child.

 _Gentle, peaceful, wave-less. As flat as the surface of a mirror – you could see your own reflection._

 _For a second, Shikamaru thought he saw himself in those brilliant green eyes._

"So… tell me about Shiho."

"She is fine." He quickly disposed of the question.

Temari said nothing in return, sipping from her cup of tea.

"I heard you hosted dinner for Neji, when he visited Suna."

"Yeah, I showed him around." She said briefly.

"You know, he likes you." He poured himself another cup of sake.

"Really?" She looked away thoughtfully.

Shikamaru waited for her to say something.

"He is a nice guy."

He did not know how to read this – either she likes him, but was expressing it subtly, or she treated him like a friend.

 _Well, they are not mutually exclusive._ He thought to himself as he drank from the tiny cup.

Not sure what to say, he decided to keep his mouth shut.

Temari was not a particularly talkative person, as usual.

* * *

They were side by side, as they slowly walked back to the hotel.

"Thanks for the meal again," she smiled with a tiny frown on her face. "It should have been my turn."

"Save it for next time, if you insist." He shrugged with a smile.

"Hmph." She smiled and looked away.

"You know," she suddenly said, as they took a turn at a corner of the street. "It is not good to treat her like that, Shiho."

"She doesn't seem to have a problem with that arrangement," he shrugged.

Temari stopped walking, Shikamaru turned around and stared at her.

Her face was firm and stern. "You know Shikamaru, I have read something like this in a book."

He looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

She stared back, her eyes lost their calmness, like a storm brewing far away.

The skies roared faintly above them, water droplets began to fall, creating transient craters on the ground.

The water fell and dyed the ground it landed into a darker shade of grey.

Shikamaru took a step forward and opened his umbrella, shrouding the both of them beneath it.

He could feel her warm breath at his neck, her perfume lingering in the air.

"It says that you become the people you love, partly, completely." She said, sternly, softly, each word stinging Shikamaru bit by bit.

"I have never met Ino before, but from what you're doing and what I have heard," she took a short breath before she continued. "You are just like her – selfish, only thinking for yourself. You make someone who cared for you wait indefinitely just because you are not sure about yourself."

Shikamaru's eyes widened.

 _How could he not realize?_

 _All he ever acknowledged was the Shiho was like his former self – pathetic, forever patient and waiting for affection that does not exist._

 _The only reason why he made such a realization was that he changed – and became more like Ino._

Temari sucked her teeth and ended the comment with a smirk.

The rain was pouring over their heads, as if the sky was crying from far above.

She sighed and walked away from the umbrella, the rain began to fall onto her hair, dying her camel coloured trench coat into a darker shade of brown.

He rushed over and shadowed her with the umbrella, allowing the rain to pour over him, causing his coat to soak and his hair to droop downwards.

Temari said nothing as she continued on her way forward, he followed her, his umbrella still shading her from the wind and rain.

He picked up the pace as her steps quickened.

"What about you?" He stopped her in her tracks. "What have you become, because of the person you love?"

Temari turned around and looked at him in a pained and regretful expression.

She bit her lip, and left him standing there with his umbrella afterwards.

Walking in the rain, she walked proudly with her head held up, although she was biting on her lip, trying to keep her expression composed.

She only told him one sentence. Two words.

It was more than enough. Her voice seemed soft but calm, its sound slowly fading into the murmuring of the rain. It felt like a slow but excruciating stab to his heart.

" _I waited_."

* * *

Author's note:

Finally a union - now how should Shikamaru (or rather, me) salvage the situation?

Well, stay tuned! I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Enjoy! xoxo

V.S.V


	14. Let go

He stared as she walked away.

 _One step, two step…_ her figure became smaller, blurred by the curtain of raindrops.

He found himself following her, almost involuntarily.

Picking up his pace, her figure became clearer, bigger.

The next second, he found his arms around her; the umbrella was cast aside and fell on the ground, blooming like a dark flower.

She stopped, and stood there. Raising her hand, she patted his hand, which was gripping on her shoulders.

"Let go." She said softly.

He said nothing in return; his grip around her did not loosen.

He dug his nose into her blonde sandy hair, greedily breathing in the scent of her.

"Shikamaru, let go." She repeated herself; her voice was soft, but firm.

This time, he obliged.

His embrace fell apart, as he shoved his hands back into his pocket.

"Temari." He called her name, sending a slight shiver down her spine.

She looked him in the eye, she was not sure what are those water droplets cascading their way across his somewhat feminine features – tears? Rainwater?

His eyelids fluttered, his lips visbly trembling.

But she could definitely tell the scent coming out of his mouth – _sake._

"Temari, I…" She stopped him, with her finger gently pressing on his lips.

"Let's talk when you're sober." She gave him a faint smile, as she picked up the umbrella from the ground.

"But I am." _She knew better._

She said nothing, and nudged him gently, urging him to start moving.

Holding it above their heads, she said nothing as they took another turn around the street corner.

He attempted to take the umbrella from her – his hand felt static as his fingers brushed across her hand.

She let him – they walked side-by-side and entered the hotel lobby, both of them dripping wet.

"You are going back to Suna tomorrow?" He asked her, as they were waiting for the elevator.

"Yes."

"When will you come back to Konoha?"

"Oh?" She arched an eyebrow. "My brother is being troublesome?"

"Your brother?" He frowned in confusion.

She let out crystal clear laugh. "Right, he looks more like my father."

Her eyes darkened a little as she mentioned him. "Anyway."

"So…?" That was not his question, and this time he was determined to get his answer.

"Probably next week, or next month?" Temari answered without a thought. "Depends, really."

Shikamaru let out an unsatisfied grunt. "How troublesome."

They entered the elevator - he stood next to the panel and pressed on the ninth floor. She pressed on the number ten and moved to the opposite side of the elevator.

"You'd better take a hot shower right after," he said, as the lift stopped on the ninth. "You might catch a cold if you drench yourself like that."

She smiled at him. "Hmph."

He smiled at her over his shoulder and left the elevator, shoulder slumping as usual.

His image disappeared as the elevator doors closed.

Temari closed her eyes and sighed softly, as the elevator stopped again on the tenth flooor.

* * *

Shikamaru took his shoes off as he entered the apartment.

"I am home," he said.

The living room smelled like cooking – warm, familiar.

"Your dinner is on the table," he heard her, as well as the sound of water flowing from the faucet in the kitchen. "Your father won't be back until late tonight, he is out drinking with Inoichi-san and Chouza-san."

"Thanks." He approached the table and sat down.

Grilled mackerel with rice with kelp marinated in vinegar on the side.

He smiled to himself – his mother's occasional indulgences always made him smile. She used to cook his favourite foods as a way of rewarding him, or comforting him.

He ate the food silently, quietly enjoying each bite.

"Shiho came looking for you earlier today," Yoshino said. "I told her to come back afterwards, she should be back at around this time."

"I see, then I will go back to my place."

He nodded at his mother and put on his shoes.

"Shikamaru?" His mother voice rang as he opened the door.

He stopped and turned around, in his mother's hand he saw a pink envelope.

"Inoichi-san came over earlier today with his wife." Yoshino said softly. "He said…"

"Ino is getting married." Shikamaru completed her sentence.

She nodded, looking for signs of anger, sadness from her son.

Shikamaru nodded with a smile. "Finally." He said softly, sighing.

 _He felt lighter. Like a giant rock on his back has been finally dropped._

 _So this is the true feeling of letting go._

 _The weightlessness. The freedom._

He took the pink evelope from his mother and opened it.

Inside, he saw an invitation card – with Ino and Sai's names printed on it.

"Four months later, huh." He said, with a tiny smile on his face.

Yoshino looked at her son with furrowed brows. "Are you okay, Shikamaru?"

"I am fine, mom." He said with a reassuring smile on his face. "Don't worry about me."

His mother smiled at him, which slowly faded. Her brows furrowed again.

"Don't smoke so much, you stink." She ordered.

"Yes 'mam." He left without another word.

* * *

It only took him ten steps to get to his door.

Shiho was already there, her frizzy blonde hair was tied up as usual, eyes darting towards him as he approached – he never took a good long look at her eyes, even after she wore contact lenses.

Apparently they were brown, their irises dark like a swirl. Her eyelashes were of medium length – on top of everything, she looked tired.

The looks she gave him were … troublesome.

"Come in," he said softly, as he unlocked the door.

She followed him, not saying a word.

Sitting down on the couch, he walked into the kitchen and got two cups of tea for themselves.

"I need to talk to you, Shikamaru-kun." Shiho's lips were trembling; she was looking at the ground when he passed her the cup of tea.

"I need to talk to you too." His voice was his usual bored, irritated monotone.

"But you can go ahead."

"You said you wanted to talk about something," Shiho said weakly. "The other day, you said to talk about it when you're sober."

Shikamaru sighed and pulled out a cigarette.

He held it between his lips and took out the lighter, the flame flickering in front of his eyes.

He sighed and let out a white, minty cloud of smoke from his mouth.

"Ahh that." He said, looking up at the ceiling. "That is actually what I want to talk to you about."

Shiho sighed herself as she took another sip from her cup of tea. "Do continue, Shikamaru-kun."

"Have I ever told you why I started to drink so much and smoke?" He let out another cloud of smoke from a deep sigh.

Shiho shook her head.

"It all began when Ino broke up with me when we graduated from university. The exact details are not that important, but well … I decided to take up the habits that would numb me, calm me or just fill up the holes it left in me."

Shiho nodded.

"And after that, I began going out a lot at night," he continued. "One-night stands and all."

"Even after…"

"It happened once or twice during these months." He acknowledged without second thoughts.

Shiho's face twitched for one second, before relaxing again.

"Anyway," he took the almost burnt out cigarette from his lips and squashed it into the ashtray. "The thing is, you reminded me of myself, who waited indefinitely for Ino."

"That is because you love her." Shiho nodded. "And I am doing this for the same reason."

"You have to recognize the fact – Ino will never love me back, neither will I to you." He bit his lip, thinking if he had been too brutal with the fact. "Anyway, I have to apologize to you."

Shiho took another sip from her tea.

"I have been very selfish, giving you false hope, making you feel this troublesome pain that I had been feeling for years." He sighed. "You don't deserve this."

Shiho said nothing, as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"And about the plans of my life – what you said was my plan … I just wanted a trouble-free life." He laid back a little on the armchair, with a tiny smile on his face.

"I said that when I was twelve years old, I barely knew the world – all I wanted to do was run away." He chuckled a little. "As I grew up, I knew that life would not go according to your plan – I never planned to fall in love with Ino, never planned to get dumped by her so many times…"

He went silent for a couple of seconds.

"And I never knew that I could find someone in a one-night stand."

Shiho turned and looked at him in the eye.

"Is she… not troublesome?" She asked softly.

"No, just the opposite." He smiled at her. "She is the most troublesome person I have ever met. Even more troublesome than my mother."

Shiho smiled as she nodded. She rubbed her eye lightly.

"I see your point, Shikamaru-kun." Shiho sighed.

"My guess would be … you wouldn't want me pestering you."

She smiled as she fished around her bag, putting the replicate keys of his apartment on the coffee table.

She stood up and walked towards the door; Shikamaru followed her.

"I guess I will see you tomorrow at work then, Shikamaru-kun." She smiled, as she turned around, her back facing him.

"Shiho." His voice stopped her, she did not move.

There was a lazy smile on his face; he was leaning on the doorframe.

"Find someone that loves you back, and you will understand what I mean."

She returned a smile over her shoulder.

"I will."

"And put your glasses back on – you look more Shiho that way." He smiled again at her. "Goodnight."

Shiho walked away from the door as it shut behind her.

* * *

Author's note:

Enjoy the chapter!

Shikamaru is a nice guy - he just got lost in between and now he has found his way (at least we all hope he does)

I hope the story is not as confusing now!

Enjoy! xoxo

V.S.V


	15. A Step Closer

_Tap, tap, tap._

It was almost seven o'clock in the evening.

He sat there, his sleek fingers tapping repeatedly on the keyboard.

All alone in the office, the white light of his computer screen shone on his face, making him look extra pale.

He leaned back as he smiled in satisfaction.

 _This troublesome proposal is finally done._

 _Ding._

His phone vibrated in his pocket.

Arching an eyebrow, he reached down and took out his phone.

 _A text message._

With a few taps he opened it.

 _Hey there crybaby._

He smiled.

That smirk emoji did no justice to her glorious smirk.

 _Troublesome woman._

He waited for her reply as he began to stack the documents on his desk.

 _You know you are supposed to ask questions to keep the conversation doing._

He almost laughed when he saw the message.

 _So, when are you coming back?_

He shoved the phone in his pocket, as he left the building and walked towards the building where he lived.

His phone remained still for quite some time, the slightest movement around him would make him draw it out and check for new messages.

Nothing.

He sighed as he entered the building, just before he entered the elevator, he saw another message.

 _Sooner than you think :)_

He smiled as the elevator door closed.

Staring at his phone, he smiled as he walked towards the door.

"Are you going to keep looking at that thing?"

He looked up and saw the brightest grin ever, shining in front of him.

He could not help himself but grinned back.

Temari was leaning at his door, dressed in a purple t-shirt and dark jeans, hair up in four crazy pigtails, green eyes shining with amusement.

"Pick your jaw up from the ground," she sniggered.

"I wasn't expecting to see you so soon, troublesome woman." He sneered as he opened the door.

"But you are happy enough to, wipe that stupid grin off your face," she shot back with a smirk.

She walked into his apartment after him. "Nothing has changed, huh?"

"So you think," he smirked as he sank himself into the sofa. "Why are you in Konoha, really?"

"I came with my brother Gaara, he has to meet with your boss, Tsunade."

She sank into the seat next to him. "Got any beer? I could barely sleep on the plane."

"Nah, I quit alcohol."

"What?" She arched an eyebrow, mouth opening in surprise. "No way."

"Well, not entirely," he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Just not as much."

She smiled at him. "Keep surprising me, Shikamaru. Keep going."

"Heh," he grinned, staring at her. "Listen to this."

She stared back in anticipation.

"I got a promotion."

"Now that's some news," she sniggered. "How did a lazy ass like you get a promotion?"

"It's about using here efficiently," he pointed at his head, tapping onto his forehead.

"Show-off," she snorted.

They fell back into silence.

He was staring at her.

She was staring back at him.

The silence condensed into awkwardness, the air seemed to stood still in his apartment.

"I should be going," she stood up, and he immediately followed, gently holding her by the wrist.

"Wait," he said softly. "Don't go."

Temari shook his hand lightly, and left his grasp.

"It was nice seeing you," she flashed him an embarrassed grin and walked up to him, squeezing him quickly.

He stood there as the door closed quietly after she left.

To be honest, to be very honest …

 _He was confused as fuck._

* * *

He saw her the next day as she sat next to her brother during the meeting with Tsunade, whom he was sitting next to.

They exchanged awkward glances, in between listening to their bosses.

Apart from her gaze, he received the attention of another pair of teal green eyes.

He saw her brother – Gaara, looking at him occasionally, a bit too much for comfort.

Something told him that Temari's brother was not a particularly friendly person, nor was he particularly fond of him.

"So, Gaara," his boss said with a confident smile. "That's about it, any thoughts?"

"I will think over it, Temari will tell you more about it later."

He saw Temari returned a courteous smile.

As they left the conference room, the red haired man turned around.

"Nara Shikamaru?"

He stood there and nodded. "What can I help you with?"

"We need to talk." He said, emotionlessly, eyeing Shikamaru from head to toe.

"About?"

"We need to talk about my sister," he said plainly, making Shikamaru arch an eyebrow. "Meet me at five thirty at the entrance."

"Sure…" Shikamaru could barely reply as Gaara turned around and followed his sister, who was talking with Tsunade from afar.

* * *

He did not know what got to him when he hopped onto the black limousine outside the Konoha Corporation Building.

He took a good long look at the man sitting opposite him – his dark red hair was spiky and unruly, his teal eyes stared at him without any warmth. His features were more masculine than Temari, but retained its delicateness.

"I have asked you to ride with me." Gaara began. "Because I need to tell you a story."

"I see," he replied.

"Temari took care of Kankuro and me," he said, his emotionless voice slightly changing. "Our mother died when I was only a baby."

Part of Shikamaru wanted to slam himself on the head. _This is going to take forever._

"It scarred us all. Us, our father – he became very strict, heartlessly cold. He treated us like strangers, success was the only parameter." Gaara pressed onto his forehead, it was at that moment, he noticed that he was wearing concealer.

"And then we lost it one day, all three of us, skipping school, I even got a tattoo on my forehead." He smiled at his opened palm.

"You see, I have always been quite unstable … mentally." He looked out of the car window. "Temari and Kankuro were the only ones there for me…and Naruto, we met in a therapy group."

"Ah." Shikamaru nodded.

"Anyway, back to Temari." He raised an eyebrow at the mentioning of her name.

"Temari had it bad – she was the oldest and always shielded us from our father's wrath, and then … " He stopped and sighed. "And then just when she thought she found someone who would love her, he crushed her."

"You are talking about Hidan." Shikamaru frowned. "That man's a jackass."

"You have no idea what he had done to her," Gaara looked away murderously.

"I have never seen her so sad, nor have I seen her so bruised and tattered."

Gaara clenched his fists together. "That time, I almost killed him."

Shikamaru felt a cold chill down his spine, he admired him for the love he had for his sister, but somehow it freaked him out.

"So Nara Shikamaru," Gaara looked back at him, his eyes calm. "How long have you know my sister, now that you have hear me out, do you think you really know her?"

"I have to admit," he replied. "There is quite a lot that I don't know."

Gaara nodded in agreement.

But Shikamaru did not stop here. "Troublesome as it is, I am willing to learn."

Gaara looked at him with widened eyes.

"Even if it takes me a lifetime to," he continued, a lazy smile hanging on his face.

"Do you love her, Shikamaru?" Gaara stared at this man across, not sure how to react. "I mean, you barely know her."

"I know her well enough to know." He replied with a smile. "If I hurt her, you can beat the shit out of me."

"I will if you do that." Gaara's lips turned awkwardly upward. "Here," the limousine halted to a stop.

Shikamaru looked out of the window, he recognize this place.

The building where Temari's apartment is located.

"I am sure she wants to see you." Gaara nodded. "I still have a meeting to attend to downtown."

He opened the door and stepped out of the car. "We will speak again soon."

The limousine drove away in a cloud of exhaust.

Shikamaru walked into the lobby, getting into the elevator and arrived at the twenty-third floor.

He counted the steps as he approached her door.

 _One, two, three …_

He stopped and straightened his shirt.

 _Don't mess this up again, Nara Shikamaru._

 _Don't you dare._

He took a deep, long breath before he knocked.

 _Knock, knock._

* * *

Author's note:

Long awaited update! Working as an intern gives me less time to write so it's a bit late (and a bit short, on purpose though)

I hope this keep you hooked :D Sorry for diverting resources over a few stories but you know when you write you can't really stop so hehehe

Enjoy! I hope I can update soon!

V.S.V xoxox


	16. New Solace

He stared as the door slowly opened.

Temari stood in front of him, dressed in an oversized t-shirt, her face was visibly ruddy; a familiar scent crept its way into his nostrils.

"You have been drinking?" Shikamaru arched an eyebrow.

Temari grinned at him. "I've just started my first cup of wine, come on in."

He walked into her apartment, staring at her long, toned legs as they moved further away from him.

"Come on," she scowled with a smile on her face, out of nowhere she pulled out an empty wine glass, and began to pour red wine into the cup.

"Troublesome," he muttered with a smirk as he sat down next to her, taking the half-full wine glass in his hand.

"So, did my little brother scare you?" Temari raised an eyebrow and took a sip from her wine.

"Gaara is quite talkative, didn't expect that," he chuckled.

Temari smiled at him. "I bet he told you a lot of stuff."

"He did," Shikamaru stared at her hand – her fingers were long and delicate, the soft skin radiated under the lights of her living room.

"Oi." Temari nudged him with her elbow. "Keep the conversation going."

He grinned at her for a second, which slowly faded back into a smile.

"You free tomorrow?"

"…Yeah I suppose," she arched an eyebrow, with a confused look on her face.

"I want to go somewhere," he said. "With you."

"Like a date?" Temari smirked.

"Yeah, something like that." He shrugged, his arm casually slinging over and rested on the sofa behind her back.

"How troublesome," she shrugged and smiled at him. "But I guess I don't have anything better to do."

He flashed her a grin and took a sip from his glass of wine, only to realize that it was nearly empty.

"Aren't you going to pour me another cup?" He waved the glass in front of her face, smiling at her.

She smirked, putting her palm over his glass and shook her head.

"I know what you are like after you're drunk," she grinned at him, the pink hue on her face made her looked even more feminine than she was. "We drunk fucked, remember?" She ended her statement with a hearty laugh.

Shikamaru turned his gaze on her and stared deep into her emerald like green eyes.

"You know."

"Know what?"

"I'd fuck you sober," he smirked. "Any time of the day."

Temari's face turned redder than it already was. "Dr-drunk already huh?" She laughed rigidly, and took the bottle in her hand. "Here have some more."

Shikamaru stopped her hand mid-air, with a gentle grasp on her wrist.

"I mean it." He took the bottle away from her and put it down on the coffee table. "Not only that I'd fuck you sober, I can't think of anyone else to make love to," he said, his gaze was calm and affirming, gentle yet passionate.

Temari looked down at her thighs, embarrassedly, she bit on her lip. She felt like her face, no, her whole body was burning – _must be the alcohol._

He gently broke her rigid form, pulling her closer to him.

He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, nearly jumping out. He could feel her wine-scented breath, her jasmine-scented fragrance filling his nostrils.

He took a gulp and cupped her face with his hand; she did not flinch as he slowly raised her head, facing her directly.

"Is it okay if I do this?" He asked, arching an eyebrow, he could feel his own face burning, like the face he was touching.

"You are ruining the moment," said Temari, frowning and sighing lightly.

He muttered with a smile on his face. "How troublesome."

He leaned forward and pressed his lips on her soft, supple ones, his tongue slowly brushed pass his teeth and hers, entwining with her tongue.

Temari raised her arms and wrapped them around his neck; he felt that and pulled her closer with his other hand on her waist. The scent of spicy tobacco in his breath, it was almost addictive, her tongue tied tightly with his.

They broke the kiss as they gasped for breath; he took the opportunity to pull her close, his head resting on her shoulder.

"I made your brother a promise," he said with a soft sigh.

"Yeah?"

"I said I would use a lifetime to learn about you, to care for you…" He lifted his head to look her straight in the eye.

Temari seemed unfazed, she stared back at him with a gentle smile.

"And?"

"I think I am in love with you." He said softly, and then he shrugged. "Man I am really bad at being romantic."

Temari laughed, something about this particular laugh made him feel like he was listening to wind chimes – it was pleasing to the ear, almost too cheerful for Temari.

As she stopped laughing, Shikamaru smiled and leaned towards her again.

As they exchanged feverish kisses, his hands began to explore her body, caressing her curvy, well-toned body; he could feel her hands running all over his chest and abdomen as well. He lowered her onto the sofa and hovered over her.

But just as he began to pull her t-shirt up, she jolted and grabbed him by the wrist.

"No," she said softly. "I…I am not comfortable with this." The look in Temari's brilliant eyes made him uncomfortable as well. She was not angry, she was not sad … she was worried, frightened even.

Shikamaru's hand left her t-shirt, and he helped her up, his arm slung across her shoulder. "It's okay. We don't have to rush anything."

Temari leaned onto his shoulder, her blonde hair against his neck.

"I am sorry." She said softly. "I don't want to ruin it… "

His embrace around her tightened a little; turning around, he pressed his lips gently against her forehead.

"It's okay," he said softly. "Rushing is troublesome anyways."

She turned around swiftly and wrapped her arms around his neck, startling him.

He flinched at first; with a light sigh and a smile on his face, he wrapped his arms around her body.

"Thank you Shikamaru." She said softly into his ear.

* * *

"If you want me to go, I will come pick you up tomorrow at twelve." He said with a reassuring pat on her back.

"You can stay," she smiled. "If you want to."

"Well, I am too lazy to budge," he replied and yawned. "Let's go to bed, I am tired."

Temari knocked him lightly on the forehead. "Lazy ass. There's a blue toothbrush for you"

She walked into the bathroom with a grin, which he followed her.

The two took their toothbrushes and began brushing their teeth.

He gargled and spat out the water into the sink. "What about Gaara? Wouldn't he mind I stay here?"

"Gaara has his own apartment, actually he lives upstairs." Temari said, wiping her face with a towel.

They went into her bedroom; she lied down and he did the same next to her.

Gently, he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Wouldn't you be upset?" Temari said, not turning around to look at him. "I mean…"

"Nah," he replied. "We have all the time in the world."

"Hmph." She smiled.

"By the way," then she said. "Do you remember what happened that night when we first met?"

"Partly, why?" He arched an eyebrow as the woman in his arms turned around and looked at him.

"You don't remember." Temari smirked. "It's okay, because I do."

"Tell me then," he said, arching an eyebrow.

"Hmph." Temari closed her eyes.

* * *

 _Their sweat-covered bodies were side by side after passionate sex, he had rolled off her after pressing his lips on her, as if he was sealing the deal._

 _Temari was panting, as she pulled the blanket over her body._

 _Just before she fell asleep, he could feel his lips next to her ear, his minty breath filling her nostrils._

 _"I love you." He said._

 _Be it the drunk words of a man, no woman would be able to resist these words from a man she just had sex with._

 _Not to mention, Temari felt the authenticity of his emotions._

 _She pressed a quick kiss on his cheek as she turned around and fell asleep._

 _Before she turned her back on him, she thought she saw a smile on the man's face._

"That probably wasn't directed to me at that time," said Temari with an exaggerated sigh.

"Come on," Shikamaru stroked her cheek. "We have a hell of a date tomorrow."

"Surprise me, Nara."

"Just sleep," he closed his eyes and leaned closer.

Temari heard his soft whisper as she closed her eyes.

 _I love you._

It appeared that Sabuku no Temari had found a new form of solace, in the dark.

 _With Nara Shikamaru._

* * *

Author's note:

Another chapter!

Dear captindonavin, come on I am not that bad! I want to see them happy too just not that directly :p

I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter!

Thanks for the love guys xoxo

V.S.V


	17. Onion

"Temari."

 _His voice, lazy, magnetic in a way – she basked as she heard him call her name, again and again …_

"Temari."

She turned around irritated as she felt his arms holding her by the shoulder gently.

Slowly opening her eyes, she pouted as she stared at his usual lazy face, smiling at her; his dark hair dangled in front of his face, visibly moist.

"Morning," he smiled.

She flashed a grin, and sat up. "You are early this morning."

"Hmph." He shrugged and wiped his hair dry.

Temari pushed him gently on the shoulder and went into the bathroom with large white towel in her hand.

He was still sitting at her bed when she came out, her hair dripping.

In between his lips hung a cigarette, the smoke floated in the air like a white dragon, minty, spicy.

"Where are you taking me?" Temari leaned forward, her face next to his.

He smiled and yawned the next second. "Dress nicely, I guess. It's kind of formal?"

Temari eyed the dark office chair in her room, a dark suit sat there quietly, perfectly ironed and as straight as a board.

"You did wake up _very early_ this morning." She commented. "Getting the suit back at home and all."

"You noticed." He smiled, blowing a mouthful of smoke from his mouth.

Her eyes felt watery for a second; she rubbed her eyes.

"I think I know what to wear then." Temari said, moving towards the closet.

Shikamaru said nothing, smiling to himself as he began to put on his shirt and trousers.

He turned around as he tied his hair up in his usual ponytail, only to see Temari sitting at her dressing table, half naked, blowing her hair dry.

At that moment, he noticed the scars on her body; they are not conspicuous but they were there – on her arms, her chest, he abdomen …

She looked like a map of scars – he did not remember seeing that the night they met…

 _Must be the alcohol._

"Temari …" He muttered, she did not hear him as the hairdryer blared itself into her ears.

She did not notice as he walked up towards her.

She only knew when she felt a piece of fabric, rough against her skin draping onto her.

She turned around, and found herself in his embrace.

"Your scars…"

"Ugly, aren't they?" She chuckled softly, a soft smile hidden beneath her messy blonde hair.

He pulled her closer; she could feel his soft sigh on her shoulder.

A sigh and nothing more, as he gently let her go.

"I will wait for you outside."

He walked out of the room, barely able to contain his frustrated tears of helplessness.

The last bit of his cigarette turned into ash and fell onto the ground like a grey snowflake.

He waited, staring out at the large window.

The clouds hung there, gently floating in the sky.

It crept onto his mind – the day he angrily dismissed her words with a forceful kiss, her anger, her disgust …

It all made sense now.

She grew up bearing scar after scar; it was only normal for her to be hardwired to protect herself from any sort of harm.

"An onion," he muttered. She was an onion – you had to peel her back one layer at a time; and when you do, it was inevitable that some tears and suffering was included.

He laughed at the thought softly, scratching the back of head.

"Why so happy?" Her voice broke his laughter, he turned around and saw her, dressed in a dark navy colured dress; her make up lit up her eyes, her hair rested on her shoulders.

She stared at him with brilliant green eyes. "Pick your jaw up," she smirked.

"Hmph," he said with a smirk of his own. "Let's go."

* * *

She arched an eyebrow as they arrived, side by side, at a church with pointy rooftops and white walls. She could see that it was decorated elaborately with flowers and ribbons – it was a wedding.

He pushed her gently by the waist, urging her to walk inside.

"Shikamaru! I thought you wouldn't come," a middle-aged woman approached him, she had his nose – almost without second thought she realized that she was looking at his mother, and she was looking at her.

"This is?" An older version of Shikamaru spoke up, a touch on her shoulder made the lady snapped out of her eternal gaze at Temari.

"Hello, I am Temari." She smiled, flinching a little as Shikamaru's hand took her in his.

"This is my old man and my mom," he smiled, as his fingers found its spot in between hers. "This is Temari, my girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you," his father offered a firm hand, and she shook it well.

His mother remained skeptical, arching an eyebrow – somehow she could see his resemblance to her. "Your girlfriend?"

"Yes, mom." He shrugged. "Anyway, we will go say hi to our friends." He nodded at his parents and led her away.

"Since when am I your girlfriend?" She arched an eyebrow and smiled, her face blushing, she attempted to shake off his hand, but his grip was firm.

"Troublesome," he muttered, not letting go of her hand.

They approached a bunch of people who seemed more like his age.

"Hey," he greeted his friends, who shot peculiar looks at her.

"Temari-san?" Chouji, the big-boned brown haired man arched an eyebrow. "You two ..."

"Wait," another man with darker brown hair, and triangular red marks stopped him from talking. "Don't you look familiar?"

"She is the Suna…"

"Oh wait, you're the blondie from the club…" Chouji covered Kiba's mouth before Shikamaru's eyebrows twitched to a grotesque angle.

"This is Temari, troublesome as it is, she is my girlfriend." He sighed slightly, his lips slowly turning into a smile.

"I see…" The two men looked at each other for a second.

Temari felt uncomfortable as the two men shot her glances, something that told her they were skeptical, even a bit sympathetic of her.

She thought she had an answer in her mind… but she was not sure.

"Come on, let's go in." Shikamaru nudged her gently, and she followed without another word.

The decoration was a collation of pastels, pink, baby blue and light yellow balloons filled the chapel; flowers filled the vicinity, making the room felt like a florist's boutique or a greenhouse.

Temari stared at the altar, a man stood there, his dark hair was short, his face pale as the first winter snow. He had a tiny smile, formal and reserved – he was the bridegroom.

Everyone sat quietly, waiting for the star of the show – the bride.

A few minutes later, the music began, and the crowd stood up.

The doors of the chapel swung open, as a tall blonde man led the bride into the room.

She was draped in white from head to toe, the semi-transparent chiffon of her headdress showed her long, light blonde hair, tied neatly into a bun and decorated with flowers. Her small oval face was painted perfectly like a doll, blue shinning eyes brimming with happiness.

She knew who the bride is – the woman that he loved, perhaps he still do.

Temari looked up at the man beside her, at first glance he looked relaxed, but she saw him biting his lip lightly, and holding her hand – no he was almost crushing her hand in his. He was in pain; she did not need to be a psychologist to see that.

"Shikamaru, we don't need to see this." Temari patted on his hand with her free hand.

He relaxed his grip a little. "Sorry." He muttered. "But I need to see this."

Everything was blurry as the priest read the vows to the couple, both of them staring at each other; Ino's eyes were gentle and loving, but for Sai – something about his expression made Shikamaru felt uncomfortable.

Something twitched deep inside of him as Sai lifted the veil and pressed his lips onto Ino's.

He said nothing as the newly-weds left the chapel and entered their limousine.

"Shikamaru." He heard her voice, her calm, concerned voice.

He turned around and saw her brilliant green eyes, looking at him.

"Do you still want to go to their banquet?" Temari coiled her arm around his. "We can go home, if you want to."

He smiled and patted on her shoulder gently. "I am fine, we can go for a short while."

"If that's what you want." Temari was not as convinced as she would like to be, but she knew deep down this was his choice – this was his way of letting go, by killing the last bit of hope, memory deep down in his heart, his mind.

* * *

The banquet was held at one of the grandest hotels of Konoha city, complete with a large banquet hall and giant crystal chandelier.

They were seated with Chouji and some of his other friends – all of them were friends since high school; Temari felt a little out of place, but Shikamaru patted on her lap reassuringly.

The newly-wed couple went around table from table, touching glasses with everyone, receiving their blessing and congratulations.

Eventually, they reached their table.

"Shikamaru!" Ino exclaimed happily, holding her glass towards him.

Temari glanced at him, he had a rigid smile on his face, kind of like what Sai had on his face.

Obviously, the three of them knew exactly who the other two were.

Temari felt uncomfortable as she stood next to Shikamaru.

"This is…" Suddenly she realized all three pairs of eyes were on her.

He slung an arm over her shoulder, and smiled at her. "This is Temari, she is my girlfriend."

"I see." Ino smiled back at her. "Thanks for coming, Temari-san."

"Congratulations," she offered her glass, which Ino touched with hers.

The two women downed the glass in whole.

Temari turned around, and saw Shikamaru touching glasses with Sai, his eyes calm and placid, chillingly cold.

She sat back down, trying to warm herself from that cold glance with another glass of wine.

Everything about the night turned blurry, as the two drank more and more.

* * *

Shikamaru unlocked the door of his apartment in silence, Temari was clinging on his arm – both of them were not totally drunk, but they were not totally sober as well.

He closed the door, as he moved Temari over to the couch, she pulled him down, causing him to crash onto the sofa next to her.

The next second, he found her on top of him, straddling him as she gently removed his tie and threw it onto the ground.

Instinctively his hands reached for her body, one of them cupping her round hips and the other stroking her face.

She leaned forward, and stared at his dark eyes.

"You are not okay." She demanded, it was not a question, but a statement.

He said nothing in return, as his hands slowly reached for her waist, and rested there.

Her hands reached for his face, gently holding it with both of her hands, she stared, eyes brimming with concern.

"What has she done to you?" She asked softly, stroking his cheek.

"Like what I had told you." He said, calmly.

"Then you haven't been completely honest." She said plainly. "You still love her."

"Temari, I…" He found himself holding onto her from the back, both of them on their feet.

"You better tell me everything, before this gets any further." She spat, brushing his arms off her roughly. "I don't need anyone's pity, certainly not yours, Nara Shikamaru."

"I told you I need time."

"And I have given you time."

"You don't understand." He said, with a soft sigh.

"Make me!" She exclaimed, holding his hand in hers. "Whether you are going to let go, you need to let me know."

"Alright, alright!" Shikamaru threw his hand up in the air and rested his hands behind his head.

Temari looked calm, as the man sat back down on the couch and lit a cigarette.

"Well?" She arched an eyebrow as she leaned on the wall, waiting for his answer.

"You want to know everything, right? I will tell you every troublesome goddamn thing." He spat, after inhaling deeply from the cigarette, each word shooting out of his mouth along with white, minty smoke.

He closed his eyes as he began to tell his story with Ino Yamanka, in every full, painful detail he could remember.

* * *

 _The first time they met that he could remember._

 _Her blonde hair was short and a clip held her short fringe in place._

 _His dark brown hair was tied into a small ponytail._

 _"Hello! My name is Ino. Ino Yamanaka."_

 _"Nara Shikamaru."_

 _"Shika! We will be friends forever!"_

 _"Sure!"_

 _Two chubby pinky fingers held out and coiled around each other, accompanied by the childish giggle of two kids._

 _The picture switched to an autumn evening, a blonde girl stared at the sunset, as the dark haired boy leaned onto the tree._

 _"I like you, Ino."_

 _"Of course you do, Shikamaru, you are my best friend."_

 _"More than that." He said, a hue of pink on his face. "I want you to be my girlfriend."_

 _"Eh." Ino looked bothered for a while, but she smiled at him. "I suppose we can go on a date?"_

 _"That'd be great." He grinned widely, pulling the girl into his embrace._

 _He did not realize that a confused expression hung on the girl's face._

 _The picture switched again._

 _"I am sorry Shikamaru." She said, her head down and staring on the ground._

 _"How could you?"_

 _"I love him."_

 _"But I love you."_

 _"I am so, so sorry." Ino ran off._

 _Leaving Shikamaru, crouching down at the tree where he first confessed his love to her._

 _No one but the wind could hear his soundless sob._

 _The sob of a boy who had his heart broken for the first time._

 _The picture switched again._

 _They were in college, and Nara Shikamaru was lying on the grass, staring at the clouds._

 _At that moment, his phone rang._

 _Annoyed, he picked it up and heard a long-missed voice._

 _By long-missed he meant how she ditched him again, two months ago after she broke into his room one night and had sex with him, then took off again._

 _"Shikamaru." She said, there was an air of urgency in her voice. "I need to talk to you."_

 _"Sure, go ahead."_

 _"I am pregnant."_

 _"You are what?" His eyes almost popped out of his sockets._

 _"I am pregnant." She sounded dead nervous. "Father is going to kill me."_

 _"Whose baby is it?"_

 _"I am not sure, could be yours." She said, he could picture her almost crying, hiding in a corner of her room._

 _"Well… if that's the case…"_

 _"Well…"_

 _"Let's get married."_

 _"Let's get an abortion."_

 _The two ends of the phone turned silent._

 _"What?" He raised an eyebrow. "But Ino…"_

 _"Shikamaru, I can't let it drag me down."_

 _"But it's a child, Ino, it's a life." He said, his eyebrows furrowed together. "Don't you think it is a bit rash? Besides, it is my child too."_

 _"I am not sure Shikamaru, it_ _ **might**_ _be yours." She said. "It might not be yours as well."_

 _He bit his lip. "If that's the case, I guess you have made your decision."_

 _The next second, her end of the phone turned into an endless beep._

* * *

"That's the important parts." He said as he crushed the cigarette butt into the ashtray. "You happy now?"

Temari smiled at him scornfully. "Do you think I am forcing all of these out of you, just to mock you?"

Shikamaru stood up, his eyebrows furrowed, he sucked his teeth and said nothing.

She walked up to him, her hands placed on his shoulders, she could feel him tense up at her touch.

"To let go, you first have to let it out of you." Temari stared at him with fiery determination in her eyes. "If you are not willing to spill everything, how can it leave you?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Troublesome."

Temari moved one of her hands up onto his face. "You have scars, just like mine."

Her other hand traced down and pointed onto his chest, where his heart was.

"They are just hidden here, deep inside." Temari leaned forward and placed her head onto his shoulder, her arms wrapping around him.

"We have all the time in the world, Shikamaru." She said softly into his ear. "We can heal our scars together."

She could feel Shikamaru's arms slowly moving up from his side and wrapping themselves around her, his head slowly sinking onto her shoulder.

"We have all the time in the world." She pressed a kiss on his cheek, and said with a reassuring pat on his back. "Crybaby."

Something about her just made him cry so easily, he thought.

Perhaps that was why she was an onion, as he peeled her layer by layer, it made his cry.

* * *

Author's note:

Another chapter! Sorry for the late update.

I hope you all enjoyed the long chapter!

Thanks for the love!

V.S.V xoxo


	18. Searching

The two young men stared at their sister, and then looked back at each other.

Temari was never a talkative person, but she was awfully quiet ever since she came back a week earlier from Konoha.

The older brother shook his head as his younger brother stared at him with his teal eyes.

"We need to talk to her."

"But she is a grown up."

"She is, but she is rescinding back…" Gaara's determination was burning through his eyes. "We need to talk to Temari. Now."

"Alright, alright." Kankuro raised his hand in the air, and cleared his throat.

His sister turned her head up from the book and looked at the two of them.

"Temari, we need to talk." Kankuro said, arching an eyebrow.

She nodded without a word and closed her book.

"You with this Nara guy…"

She arched an eyebrow, her brilliant green eyes staring at both of her brothers; leaning forward, she waited for another word to come out of Kankuro's mouth.

"Temari, you are not okay." Gaara said at the instance, his teal eyes boring into his sister's meadow ones.

"I am fine…" She smiled weakly, but both of her brothers knew that she was lying.

"No you are not." He snapped. "You are just like what you used to be like, when you're with Hidan."

"It's different." She said softly.

"No, it's not," Kankuro snapped at this time. "You are all bruised and tattered, not outside, but deep inside of you."

Gaara nodded and folded his arms, urging Kankuro to continue.

"This guy, you knew that he doesn't belong to you only, he still love that other woman…whatever her name is." Her brother stared at her with his small brown eyes. "He can't make you happy, not if he is still in love with that other woman-"

Gaara raised his hand, in an attempt to stop his brother's outburst.

Kankuro quieted down and let his younger sibling speak.

"Temari." Gaara began. "We are here to care for you."

She nodded, her face placid, listening, but not listening at the same time.

"I know that you love him, Nara Shikamaru." Gaara said in his monotone, calm, peaceful. "But he doesn't return your love, you have to be separated from him, at least, to let him learn how to."

Temari offered nothing in return, she simply stared into Gaara's teal eyes, for once, Gaara found no comfort in his sister's brilliant teal green eyes, only hollowness, confusion… even fear.

"Temari." He said, with a warm, affirming glance. "Please distance yourself from him, until he changes for the better."

"We don't want to see that fucked up Temari again, once is quiet enough."

Kankuro pressed his hand, reasurring, comforting pressure, on his sister's shoulder.

Temari raised her hand and pressed onto her brother's hand, and nodded silently.

Gaara stared as his elder brother pulled his sister into a hug, before he tugged his hand and pulled him as well.

He swore he could feel something moist on his shoulder as Temari buried her head onto his shoulder.

The only thing he could do was to raise his hand and gently pat her blonde sandy hair.

* * *

Shikamaru walked into his parent's apartment hesitantly.

He could already smell the food on the table as he took off his shoes, walking inside, he stared.

 _Eggs._

His mom was probably mad at him, to make his least favourite food for dinner.

It was a peculiar way of Yoshino Nara to express her emotions through the food she made.

And making his least favourite food was to show him her displeasure towards him.

 _It is going to be a troublesome dinner._ He thought to himself.

He had been working overtime for the entire week, avoiding everyone, even Chouji, even his parents.

If his mother had not threatened to disown him, he would not come back for dinner.

Then he saw his mother, still wearing her apron, sitting in the chair with her arms folded.

His father was sitting there, normally if he had done something wrong, he would have lowered his head sheepishly.

But not today – Nara Shikaku stared at his son as the younger man sat down at the table.

"Shikamaru." His mother began as they started to move their chopsticks. "I raised you to be better than this."

He said nothing, staring back at his mother, who looked at him with her disdain-covered eyes.

"You are not supposed to mess with another girl's feelings when you are still attracted to one," she said, stabbing her chopsticks into her food murderously. "I thought you would know better, since Ino, that girl messed you up, you would know not to do the same to someone else."

He said nothing, _guilty,_ he thought. _Guilty as fuck._

"Now that Ino is married, you have to move on. And this is your chance to make amends." She continued as she shoved a morsel of food into her mouth, quieting down for a while.

"Do you hear me Nara Shikamaru?" She demanded, slamming her chopsticks onto the wooden table as she heard no response from opposite the table.

"…Yes." He muttered, eyeing his father, and saw him looking back with the same disappointed eyes.

He swallowed each bite of rice slowly, painfully – it felt like the rice was mixed with pieces of broken glass and cut through his throat as he swallowed.

He walked into the study afterwards, pulling his packet of cigarettes out of his pocket, skillfully fishing one out and putting them onto his lips.

"Son." His father's deep voice rang behind his back.

"You are going to lecture me too?" He sighed, as he lit the cigarette. "What a drag."

"You are a man, Shikamaru, we are going to talk like men do, don't make me whip you like I would do to a little boy." His father said, his voice irritated.

Shikamaru swore he could see a vein popping at the side of his father's face.

 _The old man was serious._

"Alright." He said, turning to face him, leaning on the window frame, the cigarette slowly burning in between his fingers.

"Tell me, son." He said, his thick arms folding in front of his chest. "Do you love Ino or that Temari girl?"

"…I don't know." He looked away, avoiding his father's intense gaze.

"You are a man, not some troubled teenage girl." He snapped.

"I honestly don't." He looked down at his feet.

"MAN UP!" His father shouted, slamming his fist onto the study desk next to him.

Shikamaru's head shot up that instant, staring at the equally dark eyes that were set in the sockets of the older man, shocked at the sudden outburst.

"You are done whining over one woman, son." He stared at his son, the disappointment was overwhelming – Shikamaru felt his heart dropping in his chest. "You can choose to cry over Ino for the rest of your life, if that's what you do, you are much less than the man I thought I raised you to be."

His father sighed deeply and reached for the doorknob behind him.

"Or."

He stared at his father intently, waiting for guidance like a little lost boy.

"Salvage your broken self." He said before turning the doorknob and walked out with a heavy sigh.

Shikamaru said nothing as he stared at his father's back disappearing, blowing out a cloud of smoke from his lips, his eyes darkened.

His mind went into a haze as the minty smoke filled his nostrils and windpipe.

* * *

It had been the twentieth day that she ceased contact.

She felt like an addict on withdrawal, she was constantly checking on her phones – his occasional messaging stirred something deep inside of her, but no, she knew better – her rational self told her that it was for the best.

But that latest text from him, it was different.

 _I am trying._

He said.

Trying to forget? Trying to move on? She did not know. Trying, trying, trying ... she had enough of that crap.

All she knew was that nothing was certain in life except for death, and the shot of vodka in front of her.

Without second thought she downed the glass, and let the booming music blared through her eardrums.

 _Numbness._

 _Ever so soothing_ , she thought as the scorching liquor slid down her throat.

"Hey baby, why so lonely tonight?" Someone approached her, slinging his arm across her shoulder.

"Fuck off." She muttered, as she shrugged him off.

"Fiery huh?" He was persistent, until someone taller hovered above him and pushed him roughly. Temari could feel his arm brushing off her back abruptly.

She turned and saw a familiar face.

"Leave the lady alone." He said with a stern face, white eyes stared coldly at the half-drunk suitor.

The man raised both of his hands into the air and backed off.

"Temari-san, are you okay?" He turned at her, making sure she was unharmed by the man.

She stared in front of her – she thought she saw two Nejis, no, three …

"Mmph." She smiled at him, causing him to arch an eyebrow.

Without another word, she leaned forward, her arms wrapping around his neck, smiling at him drunkenly.

"Take me home." She said as she pressed a soft kiss onto his cheek.

She was lost, lost in wherever she was. All she wanted was to be wanted.

The night passed like a foggy day out at sea, she could vaguely remember anything, save for the warmth of their bodies, and the damn good feeling of being wanted by someone, badly.

She woke up the next morning, on a large bed with grey bed sheets.

She recognized this place – it is a hotel room, a business room normally rented for travelling professionals.

Next to her, she saw a man with long dark hair, his body well toned; he was visibly disturbed by her movements, as he proceeded to sit up and turned his body towards her.

"Good morning," he smiled at her gently, white milky eyes staring into her green ones.

She glanced at the clock – _07:00._

"Morning," she replied, surveying the situation, which she quickly summarized into a few sentences.

She hooked up with Neji.

She did not really care.

And she wanted to leave.

She stood up and covered herself with the blanket, scrambling for her clothing scattered across the room.

"Temari." He called her name as she hastily dressed herself with her clothes from last night. She could feel him approaching from her back.

She turned back at him and stared at him half apologetic, half embarrassed, just before he reached his arms out towards her.

"I am sorry Neji." She said, frowning and smiling at the same time. "I don't know how to put this nicely, but … I don't feel it between us."

Neji lowered his head, raising it the next second with a soft smile on his fair face.

"I understand." He said, she could feel the soft sigh coming from his mouth, despite the distance between them. "But can't we just try?"

"Sorry." She said again shaking her head, before storming out of the hotel room.

She panted as she walked away hastily away from the hotel building.

Did she feel guilty? No.

Did she feel uncomfortable? Yes.

It just did not feel right, no.

She knew that Neji had something for her, she knew it all along. The looks he gave her, and the smiles ... everything.

But no. Temari is not another Ino - she does not take advantage of a man's love to advance her own cause, it was cheap, disgusting.

Everything that happened last night was a mistake, a alcohol filtered mistake.

No one needs the pain, no one else does.

She could bear all the pain, she had been bearing the pain ever since she could remember.

Pain was the only constant thing in her life.

So constant, that in the face of choosing, she would gladly choose pain again, like a moth to the flame.

But it did not matter - if Shikamaru was the flame, she was the willing moth - crashing right now into him would make what was left of her perish, to maintain her distance from him was equally painful, painful, but at least she was still who she is.

In any way, he was her pain, and crazy as it sound, she would gladly choose him, choose pain again.

Only this time, she hoped that she would not be hurt so badly like she did before.

Perhaps he would let go.

Perhaps she would.

Perhaps they would both burn each other out before that, like fire and gasoline.

But before that, she needed to find herself first - for too long she had been lost.

* * *

Author's note:

Another chapter!

It was great to see so much well-written reviews for the previous chapter, I am so glad as they definitely showed your love for the story.

As you could see, my story includes two very f-ed up Shikamaru and Temari (hopefully not out of character) but anyway, their love story is not going to be all rainbows and butterflies.

Now all we can do is hope that they eventually can resolve their problems, right? Perhaps they will, perhaps they never will.

Anyway, stay tuned! Thanks for the love.

V.S.V xoxo


	19. Broken

The liquor rolled down his throat like a fiery liquid, burning his throat, as if the heat of the drink could extinguish the flame deep inside of him, if not fuel it.

A large hand landed on his shoulder with a reassuring pat, no words, just a pat.

Asuma drank from his glass. "You gotta do what a man's gotta do."

Shikamaru said nothing in return, signaling the bartender for another glass of whiskey.

The day passed normally for Shikamaru, until that moment he saw on Neji's phone, lying innocently on his desk as he passed by with a bundle in his hand.

A message from Temari.

Knowing that Neji was at the toilet, he did not think twice before picking up the device from his desk.

 _You left one of your cufflinks that night, I kept it for you._

 _Pick it up the next time you come to Suna. :)_

Shikamaru tightened his empty fist as he lowered the phone back to its place, and walked quickly back to his seat.

For the whole afternoon, he said nothing, not when Chouji asked him whether he wanted to hang out after work, not when Kakashi Hatake came over to ask for the files – he simply shoved it in his hands.

"Shikamaru?" He raised his head irritated, only to see his supervisor, the dark haired, bearded man hovering above his desk.

"Yes?" He asked, annoyance laced his voice.

Asuma smiled at him. "Let's get a drink together after work."

He stared at him with his warm brown eyes. The same brown eyes that used to look at him affectionately when he got into trouble with Chouji, and decided to go to Asuma's place to hide from their parents.

Asuma was his life mentor – someone who would give him fatherly advice when he encountered problems.

More importantly, this man watched him grow up to be the man he is today, although wretched and fucked up; he tried his best to guide him.

Shikamaru nodded.

 _It has been a long time since they had a good talk._

 _And he knew that he needed it._

And that was why they ended up at nearest bar to the office.

"How is Kurenai-san doing?" He remembered Asuma's wife, the dark haired, red-eyed woman who was always kind to Chouji and him.

"Perfectly fine," the older man chuckled.

"Good to hear that." He sipped from his glass – he had returned to his old friend, scotch on the rocks, something that could numb his mind, not too much, just enough for him to ease up a little.

"You know, it had not always been rainbows and butterflies for me and Kurenai," he smiled. "The thing you need to know is, you have to do what you got to do."

He said nothing, dangling the ice cubes inside of his half-empty drink.

"Your mind should be able to tell you which is the right way." His mentor finished his glass, putting it back on the bar counter. "After all, you are a smart guy."

He stood up and headed to the bathroom.

Shikamaru stared at his glass of whiskey, the brown liquid swirled as he spun the glass, the ice cubes clashing into the glass walls.

Something burned inside of him when he saw that message.

He knew he had no right to be angry, not after Temari had been so generous with her forgiveness, her acceptance.

But not even his brilliant mind could decipher this complicated emotions he had in his mind.

 _Think. Nara Shikamaru. Think._

"Look who's here?" He heard a voice, strangely familiar, but definitely not the voice he wanted to hear right now.

He turned around and saw a tall man, his silver hair slicked back, eyeing him from head to toe with his angry violet eyes.

"Hidan." He said in his cold monotone.

"So you can't keep her too, can you?" He slumped his shirtless self next to him, banging on the bar counter for a shot of vodka. He threw his head back in a feverish laugh.

Shikamaru looked away and took another sip from his glass.

"I told you, you are just another boy toy for her…"

"Shut up." He snapped, coldly.

"What if I don't?" He leaned forward, glaring back at Shikamaru's dark eyes.

He raised his hand and pointed at Shikamaru's chest, with a daring smirk on his face. "You will never have her, just like me." He ended his statement with another wave of frantic laughter, retracting his finger from his chest.

Shikamaru frowned. "Back off."

 _He does not want to deal with this maniac, not at this time. He had enough problems himself._

"Make me." Hidan snarled, with a daring, provoking glance.

The next second, Shikamaru only knew that somehow his fist swung its way at Hidan's face.

The silver-haired man landed on the floor as the crowd dispersed around them.

"You little bitch!" Hidan yelled, lunging forward and seizing Shikamaru by the collar, raising his fist at him.

Shikamaru blocked the incoming fist, countering with his own only to be blocked by Hidan's arm.

His leg swung towards Shikamaru, and he dodged.

"Oi, stop it or I call the police." The bartender whipped out his phone and began talking.

Out of nowhere, Asuma jumped out and stopped the silver-haired man from throwing another punch. "That's enough." He said, calmly. "Keep your problems to yourself pal."

He put a few bills on the table, and patted Shikamaru on the shoulder.

As they walked out of the bar, Shikamaru heard a few hurried steps behind.

He paid no attention, until he suddenly got shoved out of the way.

As he flew, images flew past his mind.

Before he could process it, he crashed into the wall and fell to the ground.

Colour drained from his face as he saw Hidan's hand dug deep into Asuma's abdomen, his other hand pulling him close as if he was pulling him in for a hug.

A bewildered expression sprawled across Hidan's face; he had that frantic grin on his face of a maniac, the face bore into his mind like a mark scorched with a red hot iron piece.

Everything happened in a split second.

The next thing he knew was the ringing police sirens from a distance – their office was conveniently located closely to a police station.

He heard the bartender's voice. "Get an ambulance here quickly." It was shaking, coated with fear.

Hidan moved away from Asuma, who collapsed onto the ground like a flaccid balloon.

In his hand was a bloodied knife, he grinned and glared at Shikamaru.

"Tough luck for the old guy," he smirked, wiping the blood onto his trousers.

"I will get you next time," he laughed coldly before disappearing into the crowd.

Shikamaru wanted to go after him, but no, he had to help Asuma.

He rushed over and pressed his hand onto the deep wound on his abdomen.

"Hang in there, Asuma."

"Shikamaru…" he said, coughing. "You only live once, don't waste it."

"Save your breath," he said, focusing his pressure onto his wound.

The paramedics approached and took over; Shikamaru stared down at his hands, covered in Asuma's warm blood, as the pressure he exerted disappear, blood welled out from the wound.

His mind was boggling when he saw the paramedics, pressing onto the wound on his abdomen, another hovering over him with an oxygen mask.

His mind was cloudy, as Asuma was rushed into the operation theatre; he slumped into the chair outside, his face buried in his hand.

* * *

He did not know how long he had sat until a delicate hand rested on his shoulder.

"Shikamaru." He heard the trembling voice of a woman.

He looked up and saw Kurenai Yuhi, no, Kurenai Sarutobi.

"Where is Asuma?"

"Inside." He looked down at his feet. "I didn't know, the guy wasn't aiming for him, but me, he…"  
"Shh." Kurenai sat down next to him; he could see her visibly trembling, her eyes brimming with worry.

The only thing that he noticed about her was the rose gold wedding band on her left ring finger, and her slightly swollen abdomen.

"Kurenai-san, you…"

"I was planning to tell him today." She lost it at that moment, covering her face with her hands. "I was planning to tell him that he is going to be a daddy."

Shikamaru could not find any other words except for that he was sorry.

"It's not your fault," she said. Kurenai had always been a rational woman; even at the verge of breakdown she was relatively composed.

Any other woman would have lost it already.

Each word of her teary voice stabbed deeply into his heart.

 _Come on Asuma, please don't die._

He crossed his fingers in front of his lowered head.

Kurenai raised her head, leaning against the wall behind her back; her hand resting on the bump of her abdomen.

They waited for hours; not knowing how long time had passed.

He felt like something burning in his mind, all he could think of were prayers.

Praying that Asuma would survive the ordeal.

He shot up from his seat as the doctor walked out of the operation theatre – it was a familiar face.

Her name was Haruno Sakura, one of his classmates back then.

"Hi," she said calmly. "Shikamaru, Kurenai-san."

"How is he, Sakura?" Shikamaru demanded, anxiousness burning his mind.

Sakura sighed softly and shook her head, her short pink hair covering bit of her saddened teal eyes.

"I am very sorry, Kurenai-san."

Each word that came out of her mouth felt like a bomb dropped right behind them.

Kurenai opened her mouth, her eyes staring into the void in front of her as she began to lose her balance, only to be caught by Shikamaru before the impact of the fall.

Sakura patted him on the shoulder, biting her lip. "The knife severed one of the major arteries, he lost too much blood."

Kurenai said nothing, as tears flowed from her red eyes, her hand gripping Shikamaru's hand tightly.

He wanted to scream, letting go of all his pain, his frustration…

But he found his mouth to be just as dry as his eyes.

He opened his mouth and the only sound he could make was a dry croak.

He gathered what was left of his strength, and took Kurenai home.

Their apartment seemed awfully warm, apart from Kurenai, whose colours were drained from her face, the coldness of her face, the sadness dripping in form of soundless tears.

"Are you sure I don't need to ask someone to stay here with you tonight?" He asked, frowning in concern.

Kurenai dismissed him with a weak wave of her hand, she sat on the couch soundlessly.

* * *

Shikamaru left the apartment, his eyes boring into his slumped back.

 _Don't waste it._ He said. Those were his last words to him.

A man who sacrificed his own life, his own promising, warm life for his own fucked up, wretched life.

No.

He smacked himself on the cheek.

His life was nothing miserable. Miserable was Kurenai's face when Sakura broke the news to them; miserable was the silent tears that rolled down her cheeks;

miserable was the realization that Asuma died not knowing he was to be a father, that his daughter would grow up fatherless.

He got lucky. Very lucky.

He dragged himself out and walked, somehow he managed to balance himself, out of his semi-drunkenness and hollowness; he trudged forward.

His car was just in front of him at the side of the road, pressing on the car keys, the car blinked at him, shining its lights.

He went in and sat in front of the wheel, slumping himself into the leather seats.

Meanwhile, he took out his phone.

 _22 missed calls from home._

The digital clock flashed 04:12.

He sat and stared at his own reflection on the windscreen.

He looked tired, annoyed, and defeated.

 _What the fuck have you done to yourself?_

He never thought of it this way. All he ever thought was how his crooked relationship with the people around him, with the world had shaped him.

He never really had the time to sit down and think how he, Nara Shikamaru had fucked himself up.

He just accepted that he would not be able to get that girl he always dreamed of having, he let himself sunk to where he is right now.

And when he had the chance, when that perfect someone came along to pull him out of this trench he himself dug, he waved her away – he screwed up.

The only vivid image in his mind right now was what flashed in front of him when he flew across the bar just now, as Asuma shoved him out of the way.

 _You are pathetic. Indecisive, fucking irresolute bastard._

In front of him was a familiar face, her blonde hair tied in the four pigtails, brilliant teal green eyes glaring down at him across her folded arms.

 _I won't wait, Shikamaru. I am not going to be another you._

Her voice rang, plaguing his mind like a brainwashing melody.

 _They say you become the people you love, partly, completely._

Each word that came out of her soft, painted lips pierced him like an arrow to the heart.

 _I waited._

The final two words he heard before he crashed into the wall.

He swore he could hear the sound of a heart breaking into pieces, shattering into a million shards.

He tried to straighten his thoughts, but all he could think of was bits and pieces of her.

 _Her cheeky smirk when they first met in the conference room after their intimate encounter._

 _Her sarcastic remarks, her proud beautiful self…_

 _And more importantly - her gentle, vulnerable side that he had seen in front of his very own eyes._

There had to be a reason why Ino had not appear in his trail of thoughts.

There had to be a reason why she had been on his mind, haunting him, reminding him all the time.

Something clicked in his mind.

* * *

Temari was sitting on her bed, her long fingers flipping pages of a book.

She arched an eyebrow as a familiar name popped up on the screen of her phone.

 _Nara Shikamaru._

She looked at it hesitantly for a second, and then decided to pick it up.

"Shikamaru?" She said, her confusion mixed with traces of excitement.

"Temari." His voice was his usual monotone, only this time, he was agitated to some extent.

"It's pretty late." She said, softly.

"I know," at that moment she realized that apart from agitation, there was desperation in his voice. "Listen, something really, really awful happened to me."

"Are you-" She was cut off by him, who almost shouted through the phone.

"Hear me out." He took a deep breath, so loud that she could hear on the other end.

"I am listening."

"I…"

The next second, a loud crashing sound tore its way through the phone and into her ear.

The other end of the phone died down, as she heard the sound of burning tyres speeding away.

"Shikamaru?" Her emerald eyes widened, mouth trembling, she asked again. "Shikamaru?"

 _The eerie silence filled the other end of the phone._

Emptiness.

It was all Temari felt as she immediately walked into living room, and calling the only person she could think of.

"Neji? Please call the Konoha Police, I think Shikamaru had a car crash."

It was until that moment, she realized tears were rolling down her face.

"Hurry." She said weakly. "Before it's too late."

She collapsed onto the floor as she hung up, and let out a broken-hearted cry.

Her brothers were woken by her cry, rushing out of their bedrooms, they saw their bewildered sister, crouching down, pulling at her own hair and screaming.

Temari did not recall what happened.

Everything was a haze, a fading picture. She could barely recall Gaara and Kankuro asking her to change her clothes, to get her things…

She felt nothing, emptiness.

The only thing she knew now was that she was slumping against the leather seat of their private jet, heading to their destination in full speed.

 _Konoha._

* * *

Author's note:

I am having a great rush, think I am going to complete this story soon! :D

Dear DaX0315: your idea is great! I am probably going to adapt it a little, thanks so much!

(I hope my exaggerated drama suits you guys well) :P

Enjoy! Blessed to have all the awesome reviews and love from you guys!

V.S.V xoxo


	20. The Gift

She rushed into the white-walled building, looking for any trace of him.

Kankuro approached the counter, and asked the receptionist his whereabouts.

After a few brief words, her brothers led her to a single-person ward.

No one was outside; she took a glance at the sign outside.

 _"Nara Shikamaru"_ – it wrote.

"I will go in first." Temari turned at her brothers, who looked at each other and nodded.

Taking a deep breath, she went inside.

She was expecting him to lie on his bed, attached to numerous tubes and machines.

She was expecting the worst of all worst-case scenarios, that he would be dead or a vegetable.

Instead, he was sitting up, leaning on the pillows behind his back, staring up at the ceiling.

As she entered, he turned around, arching an eyebrow in surprise.

He was wrapped in bandages here and there; his left arm was placed in a cast.

"Hey." He tried to smile at her, but it was overtaken by his painful expression.

She sat next to his bed. "Don't push yourself." She said in a scolding tone, adjusting his pillows behind his back.

He blinked once and slumped back onto his pillows.

"Well, at least you aren't that badly injured." She said. "I was expecting much worse."

"I see that, to have you rush over from Suna like that." He coughed a little, then pressing onto his chest in a pained expression. "It's okay, scratches here and there, the worst part was my broken arm." He moved his left arm a little, just to show her it was not as bad as she pictured.

One side of her lips rose, as she sighed softly.

"Where are your parents?" She noticed that his parents were not in the room.

"They left, I told them to." He shrugged, his movement limited by his injured self.

"I see."

They fell into silence, she stared at the white sheets that covered his legs; and he stared at her relieved, yet tired face.

He turned at her and stared. "You've been crying."

She rubbed her swollen, blood shot eyes, not saying anything.

He reached his out his right arm, covered in bandage, and touched her face.

"It's nothing." She gently brushed it off; she stood up, and patted her knees.

"You should rest for now." Her voice was warm and stern.

"But…" He looked at her, raising his hand, trying to catch her figuratively.

"Just shut up and sleep, that's your favourite thing." She smirked at him.

"Will you come again tomorrow?"

She stopped at the question and turned around, looking at him, she smirked again.

"Troublesome." Looking over her shoulder, she gave him a quick wave before leaving the room.

His smile faded as his stared at her back disappearing at the door.

* * *

He found himself staring at the door, ever since the bright light seeping in from the hospital window woke him from his highly disturbed sleep.

He waited, and waited.

He tried to take a nap as he waited for her, but all he could see were images of Asuma's pale face, and that flash of light he saw before the other car crashed into his own.

She came eventually, looking more rested than the day she was before.

"I bought you some fruits," she smiled at him, as she took out a small knife and began peeling the skin of an apple.

"Thanks." He smiled at her.

She skillfully sliced the apple into slices and put them onto a small plate.

He took a piece and bit on it, the sweetness faded into nothing as he chewed.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened last night?" Temari folded her arms in front of her chest, frowning.

Shikamaru sighed, and put the plate on the bedside table.

"Hidan." He began, the expression on Temari's face turned stone-like. "We got into a fight, then he pulled out a knife… it should have been me, instead of Asuma."

She nodded, trying to recall his bearded, kind looking face.

"He died," Shikamaru sighed softly. "His wife was pregnant; he died not knowing that he is going to be a father."

"I am sorry," Temari said softly, frowning as she stared at his face.

"As I escorted her home after we left the hospital, I was sitting in my car," he said. "I was talking to you on the phone, when suddenly, a car came crashing from the side, I got knocked out of the car and landed on the sidewalk."

"Do you recall what the car look like?" She arched an eyebrow. "Did you see who crashed the car into you?"

"I don't know, the headlights shone and caught me like a deer in headlights."

He looked up and realized that Temari was texting someone on the phone.

He asked no question, but then he recalled the text he saw on Neji's phone.

"So, did you bring the cufflinks?"  
"What do you mean… oh." Temari looked back at him, her lip thinning into a line. "So you know about Neji."

"…Yea." Shikamaru looked away, staring at the clouds outside.

"Why do you care?" She snapped, looking at him coldly.

Shikamaru looked back at her, his gaze gentle and confused. "I do, I just do."

"You didn't seem to care about me when you think about Ino."

"But I didn't do anything, all I did…"

"All you did was loving her." Temari stated calmly. "Isn't that enough?"  
"I am trying." Shikamaru covered his head with his hand. "No, I am over her."

"And you expect me to believe you." Temari smiled coldly.

"She is a married woman, and now that… I have you." He reached out for her hand, she moved away from him.

"Wouldn't you give me a chance, Temari?" Shikamaru looked at her, his eyes desperate.

"I have given you chances, you wasted them, you lied to me."

Shikamaru looked down at the white sheets placidly.

"I don't know what I should do, or what I should say so that you would forgive me."

Temari looked at his profile, he sighed and looked up.

"When Asuma shoved me out of the way, I thought of you." He said.

Temari said nothing, her eyes widened and her lips remained thin like a line.

"When the car came crashing into me," he took a short breath. "I thought of you … I was very scared, I was scared that I won't be able to see you again."

Temari remained silent, her teal eyes looking at him, as he turned and stared into her emerald-like eyes with his dark obsidian ones.

"Temari," he said, his face stern yet gentle. "I should have said this long ago, I was planning to say this last night just before the crash."

Time seemed to stand still as the words came out of his mouth, drifting in the air and entering her ears.

"I love you, Temari." He said, his gaze fixated at her. "And I can't lose you, not anymore."

Temari sat there like a statute, her mind was blank at that moment, she stared as he leaned forward and held her hand in his own.

"Please give me a chance."

She looked down at his bandaged hand, and placed her on his own.

"Let's talk about this later." She gave him a weak, reassuring smile, as a nurse entered the room.

"Shikamaru-san," she said with a smile, turning at Temari, she dipped her head.

"I am sorry, but there are some policemen here to interview you."

"I will see you later," Temari stood up and left the room.

Shikamaru stared again, as the blonde walked out of the room, her steps hasty.

His heart sank as two detectives walked inside, and took a seat at where she was.

"Nara Shikamaru?" The man said, he was wearing a suit; Shikamaru could recognize the familiar scent of cigarettes surrounding him. "We have a few questions for you."

"Alright." He nodded.

When asked, he told the detectives what he knew, including providing a vivid description of Hidan, that cold-blooded man who murdered his mentor.

He closed his eyes as the detectives left the room, and all he could see was Temari, smiling at him, her emerald eyes shinning at him, but as he reached out, the smile faded from her face and slowly crumpled into ashes in his hand, leaving nothing but a handful of dust in his hand.

He opened his eyes, only to find himself staring at the white wall in front of him.

He looked down and stared at his empty palm, slowly folding it into a tightened fist.

He had been passive, cowardly for too long.

Not this time.

This time, he would seize the chance, he would treasure her like he should have long time ago – he made Asuma a promise, he promised not to waste chance in his life anymore.

In exchange of his greatest gift to him – _the gift of tomorrow_.

* * *

Author's note:

Here is another short chapter :)

One point I would like to make: _**when I say adapt, I don't mean "adopt"**_ ; DaX0315 provided a great idea, which I took reference it ... (Thanks for the great idea again!)

It doesn't mean the whole story is going to end like that (as you can see Shikamaru was not in a life or death situation...)

Anyway, all I want to say is that this is still MY story, so it is going to end my way!

I hope you enjoy! Thanks for the love and reviews xoxox

V.S.V


	21. New Page

It has been more than a week now since he was discharged from the hospital.

He sat on the sofa, staring at the poster in front of him.

 _"Join the Police Force – safeguard the city!"_

He arched an eyebrow as an officer walked up towards him.

"Mr. Nara?" He looked up and saw a young man, similar to his age. "We are ready for you to do the identification."

He nodded as he pulled himself up, and followed him into a room.

He waited as five men entered the room across the glass; Shikamaru knew that they could not see him, while he could see each of their faces clearly. All of them had silver hair, but he was unmistakable.

Hidan stood in the middle, his violet eyes taunting as he impatiently tapped his fingers on his lap. It was as if he was daring him, calling out to him to identify him as the murderer. The look on his face was psychotic, maniac-like.

Shikamaru raised his right arm and pointed straight at Hidan, as if he was pointing a gun towards him. "That's your man."

"Right, thank you." The officer escorted him to the entrance of the police station without another word. "We might call you in as a witness when the trial begins, but that is probably unlikely – it is likely that he would admit to his crimes."

"Sure thing." He walked outside and began his slow stroll towards the bus station.

He thought as the usual bus he took passed by him swiftly – he would take the bus home, given that he could not drive properly before his arm healed.

He shrugged to a limited extent, not moving his bandaged arm.

Just in time as he arrived at the station, a bus approached.

It was not the normal bus he would take usually to get home, but he walked up and boarded.

This was the bus he needed to take to get to her apartment, to see her.

* * *

He knocked on the door hesitantly, his heart pounding as he heard the shuffling of her slippers, the sound of it brushing against the ground.

She opened the door slowly.

"I thought you…" Temari arched an eyebrow as she saw the familiar dark haired man at her door.

"I…uh, I just wanted to drop by and see you." He said, scratching the back of his head with his right hand. "Can I come in?"

Temari nodded as she moved aside, he walked in and crouched down, fumbling as he removed his shoes.

He thought he heard her chuckle when he looked up, she was biting on her lip, trying not to look at him – _she did laugh._

He smiled to himself – he probably looked very stupid just now.

"I will get you some tea." Temari said as he sat onto the sofa.

He closed his eyes as he heard the sound of pouring water, and when he opened his eyes, Temari was staring at him with her brilliant green eyes.

"So?" She crossed her legs and sat there, like a statute from an art museum.

"Identified him right away," he said, shrugging. "They said he would probably plead guilty."

"Hmph." Temari smirked coldly as she took a sip from her tea. "And your accident?"

"They updated me – it wasn't Hidan." He said sipping from his tea.

"Who could it be, if not Hidan?" Temari's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"They said it's his manager – another creepy dude named Kakuzu." He put down his cup of tea. "That name rang a bell?"

"Ha. That creep sent me death threats when I threatened Hidan to expose his drug abuse and crap." She put down his cup of tea. "If it was that creep who tried to kill you, I wouldn't be surprised – ridiculous as it sounds, Hidan was his money tree."

Shikamaru sighed. "Good thing that they arrested him too," he said as he leaned backwards. "This world is crazy enough."

"True." She smiled, and slumped a little into her armchair.

They fell into a momentary silence, staring at the air in front of them.

Shikamaru took a gulp, and moved his gaze, placing it on Temari.

"So… how have you been?" He asked, trying to start a decent conversation with her – they have not had one for too long.

Her eyelids fluttered as he closed his mouth. "I am fine." She replied, her gaze fixated at the tea cup in front of her.

"Good to hear." He said, before they descended into silence again.

 _Remember what you promised Shikamaru._

 _Don't waste any more time. Not again._

He took a deep breath as he stared at her with his dark obsidian eyes.

"Temari."

She sat there, emotionless, motionless.

"Temari, please look at me."

She slowly turned her head and looked back at him with her emerald-like green eyes.

"I know this is a greedy thing to ask," he said, softly, gently, as if he might break her with his words. "I want to be with you, I want to treasure you, and love you properly like I already should have."

Temari's expression was unreadable, it was as if she was confused, sad and angry at the same time.

"Would you give me another chance? I promise this time I won't let you get hurt."

She sighed as she looked away. Standing up, she walked towards the window, staring at the descending sun that painted the sky orange and pink.

"I can't afford to gamble, Shikamaru. I have already gotten hurt too many times."

Her voice was soft and sad, gentle yet it was carving cut after cut in his heart.

"All these promises, love and bullshit – it is killing me, it is drowning me."

She took a short breath and turned around, only to realize that he was standing behind her, a feet away.

"I am not even sure whether I can love properly again." She laughed a little at herself. "Hell, I am fucked up."

He raised his right hand and patted on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we are all fucked up."

"Perfect for each other huh?" She smirked, as she sighed exasperatedly.

"Troublesome," he said softly, as his hand moved up and touched her face, caressing it slowly and gently.

She smirked, not stopping him. "Don't think I won't hit you just because you are a cripple."

He smiled back at her. "I wouldn't mind if you hit me – you know the saying 'those who hit you are those who love you'."

She chuckled. "Somebody wants to get hurt, real bad."

He laughed a little, as his hand left her face. "Anyway, I need to get home for dinner." He said, as he walked towards the door.

"You need a lift?" Temari walked behind him, staring as he put on his shoes.

"Nah, I will take a bus home." He smiled at her over his shoulder.

She smiled back, looking at him.

There was an awkward tension in the air, as the two of them stared at one another.

He leaned forward, gently cupping her face with his right hand.

She did not flinch, blinking as he moved forward.

He paused for a second, before leaning in closer and pressed his lips onto her forehead gently.

She froze, slowly closing her eyes.

He slowly parted away; his hand leaving her with a gentle stroke on his cheek.

"I will see you later," he smiled at her, and closed the door.

* * *

As he walked towards the elevator, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

He reached down and pressed onto the device.

"Hello?"

"Shikamaru?" _He could recognize this voice, anytime._

"Ino." He replied.

"Can we meet up?"

"It's not good time – I need to go back to my parents'."

He could hear her sobbing across the phone, he frowned.

"I think I am going to kill myself." Ino said, her voice was calm, stating the sentence like it was a matter of fact.

He frowned again, not saying a word.

"Please Shikamaru, I need to talk to you."

A single thought crossed his mind.

 _What the fuck?_

* * *

Author's note:

Another short chapter! I am on holiday in Europe so haha here you go!

I will update soon when I return home :3

Enjoy xoxo

V.S.V


	22. At Last

The next thing he knew was that she ended the call.

Holding it in his hand, he searched for the next step.

 _She said she would kill herself – not the first time he heard that threat from her, but this time, there was a certain calmness in her voice that sent a chill down his spine._

He pondered. Should he go find her?

But what about Temari? He turned around and stared at the door.

 _He promised her._

 _He promised not to hurt her._

 _What would she think?_

He blinked for once, and turned around.

 _Knock knock._

She opened the door, arching an eyebrow.

"I need you Temari." He said, softly.

Temari stared at him, her mouth gaping. "What?"

"Listen," he reachd out for her hand. "Ino just called me. She said she is going to kill herself or some thing, and she wants to see me."

Temari looked back at him, giving him a nod. "And what do you want to do?"

"I am not sure, I just want to make sure you don't have any hard feeling about this, if I go and meet her. If you want to, you can come with me." She could feel his grip tightened around her hand.

 _What if she said no?_

 _He tried to think of a backup plan as a surge of warmth emerged from his hand, going striahgt to his chest._

She clasped her other hand onto his, and gave him a reassuring smile. "If it makes you feel more comfortable, I can go with you. You can talk to her alone if it needs to be."

He nodded as he held her hand up, pressing his lips onto it for a brief moment. "Thanks." He muttered as he gently let go. "Then let's grab your stuff and go."

"Do you know where she is?" Temari asked as she sat next to him, driving around.

"I am not sure, but she would probably be _there."_ His eyes thinned into a line. "Take a left there and drive straight."

Temari obliged and drove. "What is wrong with her?"

"It's probably her depression."

"What kind of depression?"

"I am not sure either," Shikamaru said, staring out of the window. "It's nothing new."

A few turns here and there, and they arrived at a posh-looking residential building. "She used to live here."

"What about her husband? Does Sai know about this?"

"I texted Chouji just now to find Sai, just in case." He turned to the door. "Do you want to go up?"

"This is your luggage, you are the only who can deal with it." Temari blinked and smiled at him. "I will wait here for you."

He returned the warm smile as he reached up and storked her cheek. "Be right back."

* * *

He walked up to the roof – she was sitting there, on the edge of the building. A few beer bottles littered around her, he saw her shivering, her crying sobs audible as he approached.

"You said you want to talk to me," he said, stopping at five feet away from her, as she turned around, her blue eyes bloodshot, her lips whimpering.

"I am a monster, Shikamaru." She said softly. "I killed it, the child, _our child._ This very day a few years ago, I did it. _"_

"I thought you said you wasn't sure." He said, in a gentle voice. He felt his heart ached a little – she was talking about a life, a life that was related to him.

"I wasn't entirely, but I was pretty sure," she buried her face in her hands. "I still dream of it, bloody, staring at me."

"It's in the past," he said. "You have to let go."

"How could I?" Her head shot up, her face covered with tears. "Sai was talking to me the other day, he said he wanted to have a child with me, he said… he said it would have beautiful eyes just like me."

Shikamaru stood there silently.

"I didn't even tell him, about what happened before." She rubbed her face, staring sadly at him. "How can I tell him?"

"You have to, that's the only way," he said. "Troublesome as it is, you can't hide it from him forever. Your marriage cannot sustain itself on lies."

"Shikamaru, what if Sai decides to leave me?" She said, her eyes darting around. "Who will love me? Will you love me?"

She stared at him hysterically, straight into his dark obsidian eyes.

She leapt down and seized him by the shoulders, grinning hysterically. "You will, wouldn't you? You will love me, like you always have."

Shikamaru brushed her off with his uninjured hand, and patted on her shoulder.

"Listen Ino." Shikamaru took a deep breath. "Sai married Ino, the entire Yamanka Ino on that day, not just your pretty face. If he doesn't understand that, he doesn't deserve to call himself your husband."

He smiled at her, who looked visibly stunned at his words. "As for me, Ino, I have loved you in the past, to the best that I could; but now, I have found someone. Someone who understands me, someone that reciprocates the love I have for her."

Ino shook her head in disbelief. "But how?"

"Love cannot be measured in time, or distance," he laughed a little. "I don't know, it is troublesome, but that's the way it is – I love her and she loves me."

Ino crouched down and he followed. "I am sure she is the one, I was stupid, I made a million mistakes – but someone who loves you truly would forgive you, she would knock some sense into you and help you up, before walking with you."

He patted her gently on the shoulder. "Don't have anymore silly thoughts."

Shikamaru stayed with Ino until Chouji arrived with Sai.

The pale faced man, approached his wife and pulled the blonde woman into a tight embrace.

Shikamaru found himself smiling as he saw her returning the hug, from the way her lips moved he could read the three words he once longed.

 _I love you._ She said to him, as he helped her on his feet.

Shikamaru smiled and patted Chouji on the back.

* * *

He returned to the car and opened the door.

"Sorry, it took longer than I thought." He smiled at Temari, only to realize that she was holding onto her phone, tears rolling down her face.

"What's wrong?" He held his hand to touch her hand, she caught it and pulled him close, her arms wrapping around his neck.

"I heard you," she smiled as she buried her eyes onto his shoulder.

Shikamaru peered over her shoulder and saw that on the screen of her phone, was his name, and an ongoing call.

 _He must have called her by accident._

 _Given how quiet it was up there and how loud they spoke, she must have heard everything._

"I see you, finally." She grinned widely, as she stared deeply into his dark obsidian eyes with her tearful emerald eyes. "I see you."

Shikamaru returned a smile and pulled her in, gently brushing her lips with his.

"Crybaby," he muttered. "How troublesome."

She grinned and pressed her lips onto his, their tongues entwined, lips locked until both of them were out of breath.

"Too bad you are injured, we could have done much more…" Temari smirked suggestively, her finger travelling down to his chest and drawing circles.

"You do know you have a talent for dirty talk," he smirked back. "Let's just go back."

"And do what?" She arched an eyebrow coupled with a suggestive smile.

"Get married, have kids and die together, how does that sound?" He shook his head with a smirk.

"Let's just sleep," Temari laughed as she placed her hands onto the steering wheel. "For the time being."

"Sounds like a plan," Shikamaru shrugged and leaned back.

* * *

His dark hair cascaded across his face and on his shoulder, as he leaned against the headboard of the bed.

She leaned on his right side, dressed in a black bra; he lovingly stroked with the limited movement of his left hand, the scars that scattered across her body – they were of different shades of colour, indicating how old they are.

His other hand rested around her waist, gently clinging on the curve.

"Good thing I waited huh?" Temari smirked and pinched him lightly on the cheek.

He pulled her hand down to his lips and pressed lightly on it.

Temari closed her eyes contently, as Shikamaru stared up at the ceiling.

 _Finally this time._

 _You didn't mess up._

 _Finally._

 _Oh, one more thing._

 _Although alcohol, cigarettes and paperwork did not numb him the way he thought they would, ultimately, they led to her._

 _She who bore the scars, she who waited, she who could heal him._

 _She who loves him, she who he loves._

 _Thank god for alcohol._

He pressed a kiss onto the sleeping woman's forehead, which smiled in her sleep.

Gently he lied down, with her sleeping soundly in his arms.

He closed his eyes, enveloped by the calmness and warmth she was emitting.

Perhaps they would have a happy ending, after all.

* * *

Author's note:

Here it is! This is the near final chapter, if not the last (depends on whether you guys still want another chapter.)

I hope you enjoy this journey of ACP :3 I did not plan this story in the way it is now, but often I just go along with what I think at that moment and so here you go!

Thank you for all the love you have given to this story, I hope you enjoy this and the other stories I created. :D

Love,

V.S.V xoxo


	23. Epilogue

He sat in the living room, flipping over a file bundle. Nothing much was on the news today

On his other hand, a half burnt cigarette huffed out smoke in between his sleek fingers. The white vapour swirled and left the room through the opened window.

"Hey," he looked up and saw her frowning face, her hands pulled at her t-shirt.

"How's Gaara?" He arched an eyebrow, as she sat down next to him.

"They are just fine in Suna," she smiled at him. "I told you to not smoke in the house, at least not in the living room."

"Sorry, I forgot." He dipped his head, allowing her to knock on his head mockingly.

"For a smart man like you, you're pretty troublesome." She spat in sarcastic glee, emerald eyes burning into his dark obsidian ones.

"I have a thing for trouble," he chuckled, as her face split in a wide grin.

He extinguished the dying cigarette on his ashtray, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

She said nothing, as he snaked his other hand up her torso, and began to fondle her bare breasts beneath her t-shirt. His arm wrapped her closer; she could smell the spicy tobacco scent emitting from his lips and teeth.

She made him busy by teasingly entwining her tongue with his, her hand reaching down to his crotch, she could feel his manhood hardening under her playful, soft touch.

He could taste the alcohol in her breath – sweet, spicy – delicious, just like her.

"Why did you drink without me?" He said hastily between feverish kisses. "Don't tell me it was the wine…"

"It is, the one Neji bought from Kiri," Temari shot him a teasing smirk. "The man knows his wine."

Shikamaru said nothing as he buried his head onto her neck and began to peck kisses all across her lips, neck and collarbone.

His caresses and kisses caused Temari to start to moan in pleasure, her fingernails digging into his back, as his fingers began to probe in her nether region.

"Hah… we might wake the neighbours." she bit gently on his lips as she parted away from him. "Besides, you have a meeting –"

She was cut off by his enveloping lips, gently pressing onto her pink supple ones.

In a swift response, he swept her up with a smirk and cradled her; taking her into the room in his arms, he stripped her naked until there was nothing left but a seductive grin on her face.

Everything was simple, primal, and yet affectionate at the same time.

Only one thing was on their minds – each other.

Only one thing was important to them – each other.

Their scarred past, their broken selves completed one another.

He was hers. And she was his.

That was all that matters.

* * *

 _A year later, Nara Shikamaru married Sabuku no Temari, in a quiet ceremony held at the Nara Villas deep in the woods._

 _He would later say that no bride had ever looked so beautiful in his mind, and no one would ever will; while his wife would playfully smack him on the chest as he made that remark._

 _A few years later, a baby boy was born to the loving couple, his name was Shikadai._

 _Temari Nara was not pleased by the lack of resemblance from her son – apart from the same sparkling teal green eyes he possessed, he was a duplicate of his father._

 _Rumour has it they were trying to have another child, hopefully one that is more Temari than Shikamaru._

 _A lot has changed – Shikamaru no longer smokes in the house, he is now more of a leisure smoker now._

 _Temari had fully recovered from her abusive past – she bore the scars, but now she wore them like medals, proudly announcing that she was a survivor._

 _Both of them still shared a passion for spirits and drinks, although their habits have turned relatively mild compared to their younger days – Shikamaru has rekindled his love for Martinis and wine, although he still enjoyed a cup of fine scotch sometimes._

 _But one thing was for sure – they lived happily, as far as one could recall._

* * *

 _Author's note:_

 _Here you are the Epilogue!_ _Thank you going on the emotional and dramatic ride in ACP._

 _I cannot thank you guys more than enough for your love and support :D_

 _You guys are awesome!_ _I hope you enjoy this and my other stories 3_

 _V.S.V xoxo_


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